Silverbloggers March Madness Blog of the Month Challenge
Hello, hive friends! I am encouraged to participate in the #BOM for Silverbloggers after lurking a bit to see what themes are being discussed. I am going to crawl back to March 2020 when everything familiar became unfamiliar.
I wasn't an early adapter to the hysteria of the pandemic and I hate change. When things began heating up in Pennsylvania with the pandemic our governor, Tom Wolfe, said that nonessential workers couldn't work any longer. Many of my colleagues quickly opted into the work-from-home home deal, although the employer didn't offer any compensation for internet usage. I was single at that time and my cable coverage came with a data cap.
I dug my heels in and looked for some assurance that if/when I was forced out of the office, I wouldn't be stuck with a big bill. Eventually, we were told we could no longer work in the office. The best compensation for me was since I was second to last in the office to go home, the office had run out of wired headsets. I got sent home with a sweet Jabra noise-canceling wireless headset. I've already been warned if it needs replacing I'm going to be getting a wired one going forward. You bet I'm praying every day this headset lasts until I retire!
AI Art Created in Blue Willow Discord
Being forced to work from home felt like a prison. I came out, decades before 2020, of an abusive marriage. I had no choice in that marriage to work, or leave the home and isolation was not something I ever desired to return to. There I sat, day after day in my bedroom working, taking phone calls from the office desk beside my bed. I spent 8.5 hours a day working and several a few feet from the bedroom door only to return once again to sleep there. The room I worked from needed a door to be private per my health insurance industry.
I can't describe my emotional response to this forced isolation. I tend to be an introvert, and forcing seclusion again pushed me into a mental vacuum and into the darkness of the past where I had no choice but to stay home in the country. I know that I began to experience panic attacks and suffer from sleeplessness. I avoided the news and constant ticker tapes on how many new covid cases there were how many deaths, and so on.
I returned to my faith and began seeking God again for assurance and balance in a time of utter upheaval. That March was like a wrecking ball to my peace and my brain. It did put some things into perspective for me and gave me a greater appreciation for all that I had, including an income that many people were suffering a loss of. I never lost a paycheck over the pandemic.
This is my contribution to the Silverbloggers March Madness challenge and my first official post in the community. I joined the channel some time ago and hadn't decided what I would share. I began using #leothreads recently and joined the Silverbloggers discord channel. Special thanks for the warm welcome from several in the community. I hope you enjoy my contribution and Happy March to all!
@mondoshawan of Silverbloggers.