Three months ago, the world stopped turning. Once COVID-19 was identified by the WHO as a pandemic, businesses responded by closing doors, schools were shut down and the world was told to stay at home. Overnight, our lives changed as we instantly became a part of a digital world. We learned to work from home, delicately balancing our family and work lives. We turned to online shopping and deliveries to service our needs, or we followed the “one shopper per house” suggestion. We connected with our friends and family through screens. Our most regular routines had become challenging.
My greatest hurdle was developing a purposeful math program that would continue to keep my Grade 7’s engaged during distance learning. I spent hours on the computer each day: planning lessons, marking, online meetings, answering emails, and then planning and marking some more. And with that came a different set of challenges. By the end of each day, my brain was exhausted from the jump in screen time and my body hurt from sitting. Working from home was not good for my health. Staying focused on my fitness helped me through a lot of the niggles that were surfacing. But my list of can’ts – can’t find time, can’t think anymore, can’t sit any longer – kept me from wanting to write. So I put my blog on hold. I had to. Ironically, I needed to stop doing something that I love for my own self-care. Instead, I spent the last three months with ideas brewing but no where to pour them. Now today, after ten days of no work screens, I am now ready to fill my cup again.
“Stay at Home” and social distancing has forced all of us to change the ways we train. I miss my running partners, I want to start racing and I need the hot in my basement virtual yoga classes. While this has been a frustrating start to our new lifestyle, though, I found a positive shift, a change in perspective with different goals and a renewed energy to put into the things I love. Here I go!
