My work family have started adding a new feature to our ADP home-screen where employees make short inspirational videos to help co-workers working from home. So far the messages all vary in topic. My boss thought I should do one, as she says I am inspiring. I wrote something especially for the use of sharing if I were to do a video. It is about Beating the Blues in our everyday lives...especially during an auspicious world crisis like Covid-19.
Today is my 4th wedding anniversary and it is also Good Friday. Sunday is Easter. So our organization will let us leave at 1:00pm today.
So how AM I beating the blues while working from home?
Well, to start...it's not just me. I am the matriarch of this family and people really feed off of my energy here. Its harder than anyone can imagine, being a person with chronic depression and also being a Leader, and inspiration, a mother and a wife. Some days I don't want to keep going. You know how I get through those days? Mostly with a little help from others. So you see, its a full circle. I can inspire with my well-thought out words and videos, or by using my other spiritual gifts. But what happens when the Spiritual Guru is stuck? Her loved ones help her out. I would be nothing without them. Without Annika, Jamie or Alex...I need all of them to be who I am. I am fooling myself if I think I would be better alone or stronger on my own. Our family and our homes are what give us a foundation. A couple of years ago, one of our cats died and there was just an emptiness for months until one day this unusual kitten found it's way into our home. We also lost a dog less than a year ago and it has felt different without him too. Someday soon, my daughter may live at college and only visit on breaks. That will feel weird. Likewise, working in our homes or attending school in our bedrooms, has been an adjustment.
Suddenly, my home family and my work family are in the same place. I am seeing and hearing about co-workers pets and kids, and spouses. My husband is on a Zoom call with Professors from Brown University and my daughter is taking a Flute Lesson in the other room. Watching the news, the various familiar news anchors are in their homes and wearing pajamas. Their cats are crawling across their laptops and they are showing us how their kids hang out in the kitchen making cookies with them as a family. And that is when it finally occurs to me. We are all the same. We are one. So I can safely assume that anything I might be experiencing, others might be experiencing too. And now, unlike months or years ago, I can SEE the proof of it. I don't have to guess that it MIGHT be the case...I am now IN their home seeing it. We are all one.
What does it all mean?
Does it mean anything at all?
This experience definitely lends substance to an idea that has been rolling around in my thoughts for a long while now...I began to think about it when I was dealing with a difficult time in my marriage a couple of years ago. At the end of the day...the people that live in our physical home with us...those are our family.Others who live elsewhere may feel like family or may be relatives of ours, but the people in your house are your family. They are the ones with whom you would be quarantined if say there were a deadly outbreak of Coronavirus. And having said that, how well have we taken care of our family? Because if there was ever a time that it mattered...it's now.
Who are you at home with? How do you feel about it?
I have four cats
1 d0g
two children and my husband.
I think the cats really believe that this is their house and that we just exist to feed, water and pet them. The dog seems glad to have us around.
My husband and I have had very little difficulty with this shelter in place order. If we were to go on full quarantine, I think we feel confidently that we would know how to survive, and we would be able to manage easily. We made the purchase of a house and land the TOP priority for our family this past year and now have been in our new home for about 5 months.Because of the stability of our jobs, we can afford the house and the internet and heat and electricity plus food and enough money left to manage the vehicles and animals. We anticipate needing to support a young adult beginning college in less than 6 months.
This, aside from the birth of two wonderful children who have experienced good health so far, has been the greatest accomplishment of our lives. It has brought us joy, hope and a bright future. Our home gives us something to set our future sights on...something to work for.
So being "stuck at home" has a different meaning for us because we are making our home into a place where we love to be. It's not easy with all of the current chaotic-ness of working and schooling and hobbies all under one roof, but we are getting by fine. SPRINGTIME arrived just as the offices and schools had shutdown and we were all sent home. My husband and I looked at that as a time to focus on yard work. We were easily able to engage the kids in helping since they had little else going on and the fresh air and pretty flowers offerred a welcome distraction. Our home is on the border of a flood zone, being as close as we are to Conimicut Beach. Also, we are surrounded by marsh land. The soil here on our property has been neglected and underworked for decades. So we began the elaborate process of re-invigorating the soil, building up the erosion areas and deciding on best use of space for our ideas to come to life.
First, My husband rented equipment to aerate the grass, which was full of thatch, weeds and many bald patches. One cloudy morning I looked outside and there were tiny holes everywhere. The next day, he arrived in a rented trailer which was loaded with good loam. We shoveled it out and spread it everywhere around the front of the house and sides. We only aerated the back quarter acre...too large of an area to do all at once and we are new at this after all! We dug up the side garden under my daughter's bedroom window where the sun shines throughout the morning. We also removed old wood chips and top soil from the front gardens. The best part was when we made out own kidney-shaped flower bed in the front yard. The home of our first Tree! She is a hearty baby CrabApple Tree named Mrs. Krebapple. Around her base, we planted colorful pansies in honor of Jamie's mother, Gramma Karla, who died at the tender age of 43 . I call it "Gramma Karla's Garden". We will continue to put fresh pansies there from year to year under Mrs.Krebapple.
The plan for other areas of the property include an herb and vegetable garden. I started by adding lavender, thyme, oregano to the side garden under Annika's bedroom window. Alex and I are trying to carve out a dirt path that leads from the driveway in the backyard around the side to the front yard. This path would be in front of the Veggie/herb garden. It's off to a start. We added colorful garden attractions to this particular garden. It feels a little like a fairy garden. I suppose I will call it that. I would love for the fairies to help my herbs grow more magically!
I have plans to plant a pumpkin patch somewhere on the property. Also, my husband gave me the most wonderful anniversary gift- an English Lilac Bush! She will be the crown of my front yard. We found a perfect spot for her to grow in the sun- located at the SE corner of the front yard, between the living room window and my daughter's side window. The weather looks to be perfect for planting this week coming up. The ground temperatures are warming up each day. We cannot put our lawn seed down until end of April, but Gertrude (the Lilac)can go in the ground!
Easter's appearance on Sunday brought beautiful temperatures and sunshine. It's a nice way to begin the week. Eventually, I will be daring enough to sit in front of a camera and record a message of inspiration to send to my company's corporate office. For now, I sit and savor the invitation to share my wisdom...my prized possession.
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