Flashback Fridays #4

This week’s look into the past was published on April 11, 2020. At that point, it had been exactly a month of COVID isolation, which is why I chose it.

It seems like forever ago, but what a strange time that was. Up until that point, working from home was rare for me. It all changed so quickly. I remember the tension building, the rumors, the fear. My wife had just come back from a work trip to China. If she had returned just a week later, she would have been put in mandatory quarantine for a month. Then, we finally got that message to stay home. The unknowns were so great. How long was this going to last? No one expected it would be years.

I took advantage and reignited my writing life, as I’ve mentioned before. I also stopped watching movies and TV shows, spent more quality time with my wife, and began exercising more. It was such a pivotal transition moment for me in so many ways. It completely changed my life, as it likely changed many of yours. It is hard to remember the way things were before, but I don’t really remember them fondly. I work from home now two days a week. It’s hard to imagine that I used to go in every day. Three days feel like such a slog. I wasn’t writing; I wasted much of my free time with unhealthy habits. Things felt dark and somewhat hopeless. For me, the pandemic altered all that, and mostly for the better.

The post below goes into my routine, then, too. It has changed some in the years since COVID, as I don’t have nearly as much free time, but it has stayed the same in the places that count. I still spend the early mornings getting my writing life in order, then do my day-job stuff, followed by dinner with my wife, a long walk, and then writing. It will probably stay this way until I retire. I hope that it will be sooner rather than later. Many people struggle in retirement because, without work, they lose purpose and direction. Unfortunately, so much of our identity is tied to work, and when it’s gone, it’s a shock. But luckily, I don’t think I will have that problem because I have my writing. It gives me such purpose, and I am rarely bored. It is probably its greatest gift, and I look forward to a time when all my energy can be devoted to it!

Cheers!