Wow…
Where to even begin. Today’s world is something most of us never imagined. It’s
amazing how overnight our lives look completely different. We don’t leave the
house except for a walk or a much needed trip to the grocery store or pharmacy.
Many of us are working from home, or have lost our jobs, are juggling multiple
responsibilities at the same time and we’re all struggling to adjust to the new
“normal”. I read and write dystopian fiction, but I never wanted to live in
one. But here we are.
I
saw a really interesting article
that said the thing we are all feeling right now is grief. The loss of life as
we used to know it. The ability to come and go as we please, and the ability to
see our friends and family in person. All the things we took for granted up
until now. And each of us is struggling with something right now.
Despite
that, I still find it interesting that we always try to portray our best
selves, especially when outward facing to the world. Whether it's real or not. I came to this realization
when one my VP’s posted a thread asking folks to show off their virtual working
environments, and any tips and tricks they had. Most the pictures that popped
up were people with dedicated work spaces, clean desks, multiple monitors, and
nice office chairs. I laughed. I legit just lost it. And when I stopped laughing, I
constructed my post…
If
I could get a picture of my "virtual office" it would be of me
sitting on the floor with my toddler rolling all over me, but that's impossible
to capture. My tips/tricks, get in work before he gets up, during nap time and
on the fly. I've done conference calls while changing diapers, and building
block towers so he can knock them over.
I
have daily tagups with my team which helps keeps everyone engaged and aware of
what's going on. We also do daily brain teasers to get everyone thinking
outside the box and to have a little fun. There's also talk of a virtual happy
hour, after hours on our personal computers.
#KeepItReal2020
As
you can see my reality is very different than what most folks posted. But an
interesting thing happened after I posted that. More people started sharing the
juggling that they are doing, talking about the kids making debuts on
conference calls, and their pets barking in the background and even those that
previously posted, added comments about the juggling that they are doing as well. It was a much needed
dose of reality
It
left me wondering why... We all know the world and everyone in it is a mess right now, so why are we still trying to prove to the world we aren’t? I understand the want to portray
our best selves, and it's important to post the wins no matter how small, but we should also be able to be vulnerable, show our
struggles, and be human. This kind of world event is extremely isolating, and
if we don’t talk about the good and the bad, we’re not doing ourselves any
favors. We have to be mindful of all our health that includes mental health,
especially mental health.
In
an effort to keep things real, and show all sides of how this event is
affecting us, what are your #KeepItReal2020 moments?
Share
in the comments below and if you’re feeling up to it share it online with the
hashtag #KeepItReal2020
Stay safe everyone and #KeepItReal2020
