At the beginning of the pandemic, I wrote about how my daily life of exercise and working in office suddenly changed to working from home and focusing on webinars. I wrote on the distresses and benefits to working from home and, the importance of maintaining some sort of TLC for ourselves throughout this time of uncertainty.
What about now? States are opening up, mask mandates are loosening, and many if not most, have gone back to work. Not all have returned to the workplace, but I have.
The other day, in casual daily conversation at the office, someone mentioned how he heard that many women have fallen into a sort of melancholy now that we have to leave our houses and head back into the office. No more rolling out of bed, staying in pajamas all day. We’ve had to go back to our routine of getting dressed, doing our hair and maybe putting on some make up. And that’s not just women, men have come across the same issues. It no longer takes 5 minutes to hop up out of bed and leave the house.
Personally, I have found joy in getting back to work, out of the house, and the re-opening of __. At first it seems bitter but after having a horrible experience with COVID-19, I find myself welcoming the endurance of life and what we used to think was “normal.”
What is life without social interaction? What is life without being able to see friends, family and coworkers?
There is something about the routine of getting up and going to work. Refer back to my blog on the importance of dressing for success while working from home. (Link) “Clothing, whether your forte or not, has a huge impact on our lives. Clothing affects your mood and behavior and has a vast impression on how others treat and view us as well.” The City of Coral Gables hosted a great retail roundtable, and the numbers don’t lie! Apparel sales are returning to pre-pandemic levels, retail stores are opening back up, and food sales are up. People are out and about and moving around, as Chef Adrienne stated, “we’re social creatures.” But things have changed. Restaurants offer take out that didn’t before, work from home is a new permanent possibility and convenience that wasn’t so easy before. Clothing stores have pick up options and “versatile styles (of clothing) are the big sellers.” (City of Coral Gables - Retail 2021)
What does this mean? It means people WANT to get back out. We’ve just molded in to a new form of social creature and I can’t say I’m upset.