Craving Normalcy
I am very fortunate to have a job that allows me to work from home, I admit it. Although there have been some challenges to working remotely during a pandemic, I totally recognize that I’m lucky to still have an income.
I am also a rule follower, so when the VP of our company told me I should work from home and not go into the office, even though 1400 of our employees still are considered essential and still go to work each day, I agreed. That means besides two very brief trips to the grocery store, I haven’t left the house for over three weeks.
As a self-professed homebody, what once seemed like a dream to me has made me hunger for the outside world like never before. When my boyfriend – an essential employee – comes home, he enters with trepidation, wondering what kind of craze I’m in each day. It varies from still sitting at the dining room table working, to way too much wine at virtual happy hour, to “look I’ve retiled the bathroom” or a mountain of Amazon boxes. I don’t blame him one bit for tiptoeing through the door.
Work keeps me plenty busy, but it was day 25 that finally just got to me. I needed something normal. I needed to be around humans going through the same thing I’m going through, and I needed to be in a safe place. So I messaged my boss and told him I would be out of pocket for half an hour. I needed to go to Target.
I can hear you grumbling already. I can! “Stay home! Stay safe!” I have been, I promise you. But I just needed – no, I CRAVED the life I had before COVID-19.
I grabbed gloves, a mask, hand sanitizer and I got in the car and took off. It felt surreal to even be driving and I was in the parking lot before I realized that, in my excitement and hygienic preparedness, I’d forgotten my wallet and my phone. I had to turn back around.
Once back at the store and parked, I donned my protective gear and walked slowly, practicing social distancing to the door. Once the doors opened, the familiar fragrance of things I didn’t need wafted through the mask. I was given a freshly cleaned cart from an employee and I walked my usual route: Spot deals, Clothing, Books, Seasonal. I was swift and careful, still worrying about the looming viral plague that has taken over. Those ten sweet minutes of power shopping renewed me. I should be ashamed to admit that I needed retail therapy so bad, but I really did.
We are being asked to give up so much right now, and for good reasons, though everything feels off-kilter. Am I recommending ignoring the rules and restrictions? Definitely not! But what I would say is this: find a place of normalcy for you right now, as long as you’re doing it safely. Maybe that’s walking with nature. Maybe it’s connecting or re-connecting with family. Or maybe it’s a new normalcy that includes taking up a hobby or reading a book that you didn’t have time for before. Find your peace. Mine is at Target.
Writer: Julie Bueling
Julie Bueling is a project manager for a Fortune 500 company as well as lead designer for a local real estate staging business. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with her tiny itty bitty chihuahua named Trixie Ruby Noodles, working on various crafting projects and redecorating her own home.