Each and every day has always been a different day, but like many people, I never took the time to actually notice what was different about each one. I was always much too busy caught up in my own life, my own world to notice the changes happening around me. My entire life revolved around jumping out of bed each day and starting the same boring routine that included:
Putting on the coffee.
Eating a toasted english muffin with peanut and jelly on it.
Preparing my lunch for work.
Jumping in the shower.
Checking the weather for the day on my iPhone.
Glancing through personal and work emails.
Pondering what outfit to wear today.
Choosing my favourite glasses to wear today from the 10 or 12 frames I own.
Packing and repacking my back pack with all possible necessities I may require.
Deciding if it would be a day to listen to music or read a book, depending of the crowd.
Making sure that my transit card was in my back pack. Once I walked to the transit station and had to return home because it was waiting for me on my desk by the keyboard.
And finally walking the same way to the transit station as I did everyday.
Once the commute started, all focus would be on what to expect at work today, review the number of useless meetings I had to attend and pretend to be interested. Most of the directors and managers reminded me of characters from Charlie Brown. When they would speak from their fears and egos it sounded like blah, blah, blah or the Swedish chef from the Muppets. I would also plan what tricks of the trade I would pull from my magic hat to use today to combat toxic co-workers that thrived on being miserable and making others miserable too. At the end of each work day my focus would be on shutting down, completing assignments and preparing for the return commute. The best days were always when my favourite co-workers and friends would mention all of my favourite words in one sentence. It was like being being resuscitated and reborn again. Can you imagine what those words were? Very simply, they would say with a mischievous look, happy hour and lychee martinis. My response was always the same, game on or let's go. It was the only time that my boring routine would disappear and I would notice that today is different and hella better already.
Living in COVID-19 times, I have been able to review days gone by, acknowledging and reclaiming golden gemstones of yesterday and yesteryear. For me, this is truly a second chance, a wake up call to refresh my life. I realised that I had lost sight of the most precious thing in my life, true friends. As we age and become adults we go through many life cycles and experiences to make us who we are today. For instance, over the past 40 years I have moved around a lot and lived in Rome, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Washington, D.C., and now Melbourne, capturing what I love the most in life, new friends and true friends.
The best part about social distancing is reconnecting with so many of the people that I love and enjoy being around. It feels so wonderful to not waste so much of my time with negative people in the workforce that would leave me too exhausted to have fun with those that I enjoy in life due to the lack of energy or feeling drained. Today, 'lets connect' is added to my favourite words. Although many of us may feel uncomfortable with online chatting, worrying about how we look, it's all different now. My friends and I are all scheduling Zoom calls or FaceTime chats to connect with each other, celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or just to check in with each other. I call them our Happy Hour time together. Regardless if you are drinking a cocktail or a cup of java, tea or sparking water it's so much fun. Chats could be with just one or two people or as many as 5 or 6 people. The first time it felt like it was a work call for all of us involved but after 5 minutes, everyone became comfortable and the laughter commenced with funny stories, some talk about politics, our health, singing happy birthday as a team, sharing recipes, and lifting our glasses or cups to toast each other and share our devotion and love for each other.
The best part about our happy hour is looking forward to the fun call. Seeing people that you love makes a world of difference during these times. With all the wonderful technology that we have today, I now realise that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, we can all still be just as close to each other and see each other as much as we want to see each other. I was never a big Zoom or FaceTime person because I always felt I needed a makeup artist on my team to prepare me to look my best. It's like Norma Desmond in the movie, Sunset Blvd when she looks at the director and says, "Mr. DeMille, I am ready for my closeup." Lesson learned, true friends don't expect you to be perfect, just be yourself and have fun. A few things I have learned in doing the online conversations is that it may be great to have a facilitator and possibly a soft agenda, otherwise with all the excitement everyone may start talking all at the same time. Like in regular office meetings in person or online, sometimes introverts will become silent. This doesn't happen with friends because we all love and respect each other and have lots of questions for each other.
The moral of my story — I am happy to be alive and in good health today. I am happy to reach out to so many good friends to say hey Mister McGoo or Broomhilda, Coretta Sands or did you eat more than 4 almonds today JY, or what's up Fatz McGillicuddy. Trust me, they are all terms of endearment that always make each of us smile when we hear it or see each other.
"In difficult times, true friends tell you the truth. In happy times, true friends celebrate with you. In sad times, true friends are by your side." — Unknown
So what are you doing to stay connected with your friends?
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