veggiessima

My mind has been all over the place in the last few days...

I have been working from home since March 15 when all places started to close down because of the pandemic. Before that, I already used to work from home a couple days per week, so my adaptation wasn't too difficult, the hardest part was to adapt to not seeing anyone in person 100% of the time.

Our office building is going to be renovated and regardless of the covid situation, we will not be going back to the office until February/21 and are having to pack our belongings so the renovation can be done. Each day, a group of 4 people are allowed in the office and have that day to pack everything. My scheduled day was last week, July 2, right before the holiday, and that was the first time since March 15 that I drove to work again.

The time it takes me to commute to work varies a lot depending on traffic, it can take from 40 minutes to a bit over an hour. This is one of the reasons I already worked from home a couple times per week before the pandemic, to save time.

Before leaving home to go to the office last week, my mind was operating under the new reality: I'm leaving the house, need masks and wipes.

A few minutes into my drive, as I progressed down the highway to work and the familiar landmarks started to appear ahead of me, the new reality was forgotten and I felt this strange sensation as if I had just woken up from a very, very, very long weird and bizarre nightmare about some bad virus and was back to my old routine: I'm driving to work, soon I will be in the office saying hi to my coworkers. Do I have any meetings today? I got lost in work thoughts, forgot about the pandemic and it was like it had never happened.

Traffic was really light so I was almost at the office within the 40 minute time. As I drove through the local streets approaching the office, I started to see pedestrians wearing masks and was immediately thrown back into reality. My mind shifts again: Remember to grab the mask and the wipes before getting out of the car.

I walked into my office. It was silent. There were piles of cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, tape, all kinds of packing supplies. It felt foreign, it felt unwelcoming, it felt weird.

I ran into my other teammates that were also scheduled to be there, their familiar faces hidden behind the masks, we all looked different, with unkept, untrimmed hair. Are you guys really the folks I used to work with?? It felt unfamiliar, it felt different.

I spent 6 hours in the office, working non stop, taking some things to my car to bring home, boxing other things to leave there, getting rid of what I hadn't used in a while. It felt exhausting, it felt overwhelming, it felt difficult.

Before leaving, I stared at my soon to be renovated cubicle and wondered if we will ever feel safe anywhere in public again. It was time to leave and close that chapter. It felt confusing.

I drove back home trying to process my day, but it was “unprocessable”. My frame of reference of the last 17 years is being replaced by the new reality post covid and the need to pack for the construction gave me a weird sensation of never going back again. That could actually happen since we are working remotely and being very productive, but I think I wasn't ready to face the physical detachment yet, I wasn't ready to see that for real in front of my eyes yet.

I'm sure everyone can somehow relate to this experience, not necessarily a work experience, but we are all having to constantly readapt to this new reality we are being presented each day. Changes can be very welcoming, new beginnings, new experiences, but what makes this change very delicate and complicated is the uncertainty ahead of us all.

There is a lot we can't control right now, but one thing we can definitely control is the time we reserve to do something positive each day, something that brings us joy and allows our minds to disconnect a bit. Even if just for a few minutes.

Cooking Therapy is one of my favorite forms of relaxation and in the middle of all this chaos it has been a lifesaver, but besides that, I've been very open to trying new things lately.

Last month, Nick put together a guitar lesson for Niels and posted it on Cinnamon. Niels took the lesson and posted this video showing his progress and added the tag “MagicTrick”. Cinnamon is running the Magic Trick challenge this month. I was super inspired by Niels and the whole Magic Trick concept, what could be more magical during these crazy times of social distancing than learning a new skill this way?

So I decided to try the lesson too!

And this is my first ever guitar video! I sure have a looong way to go ahead of me, but I was super excited to produce some sound that resembled a real song!

PS: I need a haircut really bad!!

https://www.cinnamon.video/watch?v=352996121582241703&c=353037465742739403

Nick has already followed up with a second lesson about rhythm and I've been practicing a bit each day!

I hope everyone is being able to find lots of magic tricks, little ones, big ones, but enough to keep you sane and strong during these crazy times!

Cintia

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