It’s Friday, but my mind and body aren’t entirely sure what that means right now.
Ive worked from home on a fairly regular basis for about two years. So I’m often confused about what day it is. It’s amazing how I’m rarely off by more than a day because even without an office job, days of the week just have a certain feeling, don’t they?
But what does the fact that it’s Friday mean when many of us are working from home with kids and don’t plan to leave our homes? What does the fact that it’s Friday mean when essential service workers aren’t able to take a break, and will continue working through the weekend, despite the tiredness of body and spirit? What does Friday mean when it feels as if time is moving without gaining any real progress?
The truth is I don’t know. I didn’t know it was possible for days of the week to lose a feeling I could never have explained in the first place.
But here we are.
Here we are.
Navigating work and unemployment and overwork. Navigating kids and spouses and coworkers all sharing the same space. Navigating home school, online school, home from college but still in school, how do I keep educating myself during a pandemic- school. Navigating shopping for essentials, shopping for neighbors, shopping for that one thing that might make you smile when all you want is to cry. Raised anxieties. Grief. Disappointment. Sadness. Depression. And safety feels like an illusion that could dissipate at any moment.
Here we are.
Here we are.
Its Friday and we head into the weekend with a very new normal. We haven’t even figured out what that new normal is. Seattle’s normal is different from Chicago’s normal. Chicago’s normal is different from Detroit’s normal. Detroit’s normal is different from DC’s. State to state, city to city, community to community and certainly home to home.
We are adjusting. We are listening. We are getting creative. We are writing and creating content. We are posting pictures and celebrating birthdays. We are eating all the food in our homes. We are checking on one another. We are trying to figure out what’s next.
We are here.
This week I have felt angry and frustrated. I have cried. I’ve felt a surge of anxiety so strong, I worked out for the first time in weeks. Not out of a sudden need to get in shape, but because it felt like the only way to release, to move, to out work the anxiety.
Usually Fridays carry with them come sense of relief. It’s the weekend. Friyay! What you getting into? vibes. But not today.
Today we are just here.
And I guess I want you to know that I’m glad you’re here.
It’s Friday
Thanks for being vulnerable with us!
Glad you are writing this series. Thankful for these honest words. Lisa, Pittsburgh, PA