Keep It Real 2020

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