Stay At Home has been hard on lots of us. Mentally, emotionally and of course financially. I cannot begin to describe the many ways that the pandemic has changed me. For better and worse, the world is a different place now and we have to find our own comfortable way to navigate these new rules.

Below is a little list of 10 Things I Learned during Stay At Home.

No one cares if you wear a bra. Or Pants. Or clothes. I find myself walking around without a bra, every day. I mean, I zoom without a bra. I pick up groceries without a bra. I water my plants without a bra. And it is glorious. I may never wear a bra again (I have always hated them). Ageing? I say bring it on. Swing low, girls. Swing low.

Everyone cares if you wear a mask. And also WEAR A MASK. I could go on how it’s selfish to allow a bit of discomfort to, oh I don’t know, risk other people’s lives, but I’m hoping you know that and you wear a mask outside. Not wearing a mask makes me so uncomfortable now, I won’t go anywhere near someone who doesn’t have one.

Your significant other/roommate/partner loves you and is equally sick of you too. A month in and my husband looks at me and is like, “Do you talk this much at work all the time?!” Yes, yes dear husband I do. And you are just not at work with me to realize it! And so while he is patiently trying to code in the next room, attempting to drown out my gibber-gabber, I’m silently wondering why he has four meetings back to back and how he can eat an entire bag of potato chips in one sitting.

Exercising means not losing weight. No seriously, I’ve been on a stationary bike for hours since this started and though I haven’t gained anything, I haven’t lost anything either. Perhaps it has something to do with the pint of ice cream I’m consuming a day due to stress… Probably not though.

Nothing says Stay At Home more than new pillows. Nesting has taken front and center. Whether that’s decluttering books, toys and kitchen utensils or buying a new pillow, staying at home has put all those annoying little “I’ll do it eventually” tasks front and center. And the first thing I did was clean clean clean and then buy a couple new pillows to make me feel better about the whole thing. 🙂

Bye Bye Bye, bye bye. This is what it has morphed into. A major decluttering. The biggest change is seen with my book collection. I’ve posted pictures of my To Read pile before, the bookquakes in all their glory. These days, I’m more mindful of what I bring into the home. And I still have two large boxes to give away to friends.

I am soooo/TOOO excited to see <insert human here>. Most days it is just me and hubby and toddler. Me, hubby, toddler. Me, hubby, toddler. And not gonna lie, wow. Those days are hard for me because I’m naturally a very social creature. (Not to be confused as an extrovert but nevermind). And on those days, I will sometimes talk to my delivery person (Amazon, grocery, mail) through the window near the front door about ANYTHING. The weather, their delivery routes, stamps, my neighbors, you name it. Nothing is off limits. I am also THAT WOMAN who has now begun speaking to the poor grocery delivery girl at pick up about her day, my day, snacks and the weather. Yep. That’s me. Honk if you see me. Otherwise I’ll just sit there and get your life story out of you. Also – all from 6 feet away and a mask.

Video Calls are your frenemy. I already admitted to being a social person, but I have a love/hate relationship with video calls. Do I have to wear makeup? Can’t I just have the black screen? What if I’m caught rolling my eyes at something? People’s bad habits seem also to be compounded on video calls. That person who talks over everyone all the time or interrupts you, yeah. That’s worse. On the other hand, it’s lovely to actually see your friends and pretend you’re just all in the same room. So love/hate. For me, I’ve accepted this and have started asking to do 50/50 on the videos. That way no one expects me to turn the video on and it’s more my choice.

I’ve started trying new hobbies. Gardening is not my strong suit. I usually kill the plants I have (water is usually the method) but during stay at home, there was something very theraputic about getting outside and digging and planting and caring for living things. I’ve enjoyed it (gasp!) but also, I have found some hobbies aren’t working for me anymore. I’ll still do them, but to a much less degree. And I’m okay with that. I’ve also gone back to baking (see victorian sponge cake). But being as I’m not going into the office anytime soon, I’m forced (forced I say!) to eat all of my baked goods. Oh dear.

Which brings me to my last one:

Take Stock. Staying at home has forced me to come to terms with my life and who I want to be and where I want to go. There’s nothing like a global pandemic to make you really look at yourself and think: huh, am I happy? What can be improved? I’ve decided to make room in my life for the things that really matter to me, the people who I love and the person I want to be. That means more time in the moment, with my family. Another round of games or a picnic in the backyard. Less phone time, less television time.

Whatever that might look for you, I hope you take some time to spend time for yourself and breathe. You’re not alone.