Today I'm going to talk about how lucky I am in all of this crap...And how much luckier I am than I would have been 25 or 40 years ago.
First of all, I don't live with abusive people anymore, or even people who would drive me crazy if I had to see them and only them. I think about children and adults in abusive situations, trapped in a house with their abuser, and every trigger going off to cause that abuse. Shudder. I feel for those people and hope their lives get better very, very soon.
Secondly, I am thankful that I don't live in a big city. Some people who live in high rises can't leave their building without getting on an elevator, and being in a small space with other people. Even if they say we can't leave our yards at some point, I have a screened in porch to hang out in, a garden to work in, and I can walk right out my door without being stuck in a little box with someone who might be contagious.
The third thing I'm thankful for is that I like spending time alone in general and most of my hobbies can be done by myself or with John. Oh, also, I can, and like to cook. Having to distance myself isn't a huge hardship for me, since I live in my own little world most of the time anyway. A lot of people assume that since I'm loud and gregarious when I'm out in public, that I love to be surrounded by other people, and those people are wrong. Being social takes a lot of energy. I love my friends, but I need lots of breaks from people to recuperate, and I love my alone time. I know people who play team sports, or have other very social hobbies, and I feel badly that they can't do the things they love right now.
A friend of mine said there was an article about New Yorkers having stay in place orders and one woman was quoted as saying something like, "It's gonna be like "Little House on the Prairie", where we have to eat leftovers and make our own soup." After seeing that, I thought that I must live in "Little House on the Prairie" world all the time. I like to eat leftovers and make my own soup.
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| Archie is my kid bothering me while I try to work from home, but I can always shut him in a room and leave him if he's annoying, without DHS becoming actively involved in my life. |
Out of the millions of other things I'm thankful for, is that as of right now, I still get to work from home. Even a year ago, we weren't set up with skype and the technology to take phone calls from home. Now, I can hang out by myself...And with the cats, and do my damn job. Both John and I are getting paid our full paychecks, and we know how rare that is right now.
Also, the last couple of weeks it's been just me at home. I don't have a husband blaring the TV, or kids fighting while I'm trying to help someone over the phone. John said he called someone at work yesterday about an insurance claim and he could hear the woman's kids screaming in the background. Poor woman. fifteen years ago, that would have been me. We think that next week, John will start having some time off from work, and if that's the case, he's really good about keeping earbuds in while he watches Youtube videos of mountain bike races, or cyclocross races, or whatever other kinds of bicycle porn he's into. We will also probably have to give him projects to do, I can't imagine how antsy he'll be with nothing structured to do. So far, though, John and I have been doing pretty well being the only people we see for the most part. There's probably more eye rolling behind each other's backs, and some heavier and more frequent sighing than normal, but I am VERY lucky that I'm with someone I can stand to be around all day without getting stabby. Let's hope all of the good stuff in this post lasts this pandemic out.
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