What We’ve Learned In A Pandemic
We’ve all had more time than we ever imagined during this pandemic; Time to think, time to clean, time to read, time to walk, time to watch, time with family, time to learn new things, and time to improve our skills.
We should all be geniuses and skilled masters of something, right?
Probably not, because I believe most of us didn’t take full advantage of what could have been. But we did spend much needed quality time with our families, if possible, and much quality time with the arts…ok so it’s tv or streaming, but it’s an artform.
I thought long and hard about some things I did improve on. Pardon the pun, but I’ve definitely stepped up my walking game, like many of you. I realize there’s nothing to learn here except perhaps for finding more places to walk. However, it is time well spent in nature and that is something!
Message rocks, and finding hearts in nature, became a thing during this pandemic… a thing I really enjoyed discovering on all the walks…
Let’s talk real skills, like bartending. I always enjoyed making drinks for people but stuck to the same few cocktails, for the most part. During quarantine life, I have opened up my repertoire and learned new recipes. My favorite concoction was making Bloody Marys …with everything but the kitchen sink.
So many of us had to to do something we rarely do, but thoroughly enjoy, in part thanks to the somewhat instant gratification of this skill…baking! I finally got to make the famous DoubleTree Inn Chocolate Chip Cookies! They were such a big hit, I made them over and over again for friends and family. Delivering these delights on doorsteps delighted me to no end! (BTW, the recipe is in the link below on my Facebook post!)
Lasagna became our comfort food favorite (this is a spicy turkey/spinach lasagna).
Did you become an expert cleaner? Did you learn to sew, or play guitar? Did you up your cooking game? Read a book or 2? Play games with family? Walk instead of drive?
Enjoying downtime was a skill in which we all got better, I believe. Spending time just hanging out with our family, whether engaged in conversation, eating a meal together, playing games or in quiet watching a movie, was definitely time well spent.
We learned to appreciate nature, our homes and our yards. We learned that working and schooling at home is not what we thought it would be. We learned how much we missed the many things we took for granted like eating at a restaurant, live music, our work places, and being with friends and family.
In the end, if we didn’t learn anything from this scary and unknown territory that has been our lives the past few months… it’s never too late.
Live, learn and love
