Another kind of WFH

When I write about money, it’s always connected to the other aspects of life. It’s because money is just a tool, an enabler, an exaggerator.

And that’s why it’s always best to teach our children kindness side by side with high FQ.  

The pandemic has brought us to our knees and we have been forced to rethink the way we do things – the way we spend, save, and earn a living. If there’s anything that has really changed for most of us, it’s the WFH (Work From Home) lifestyle. 

I have heard a lot of challenging stories of WFH due to lack of space, internet connection, blurring of work and rest periods, being together with family too much, inability to focus due to young children around and many more. 

Less than a year after I moved into my writing office somewhere in Quezon City, I moved back to WFH set-up, this time, together with all the men in my life, all four of them. I am not complaining, except for the fact that I seem to have gained a few inches around my waistline. I must really enjoy having my meals with the loves of my life, something that had become rare for us near empty-nesters prior to the quarantine. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with WFH.

Today, I wish to discuss another type of WFH, it’s Work From Hope. I just finished doing an extraordinary advent recollection by Fr. Johnny Go with that title, and I highly recommend it to all of you my dear readers. 

Without spoiling the surprises in this one-of-a-kind recollection, I’d like to discuss a bit about “looking back” which is one of the main points of this reflection. 

There are so many things that we look back to – the things we used to do during the pandemic. For one, there’s the way we celebrate Christmas. At this time of the year prior to pandemic, we should all be on our nth Christmas party, with a dozen more in the next weeks. Last year, some started as early as November and ended in January.

Last Sunday, my husband and sons went to the mall to do their respective errands. Yup, this tita opted to stay home. My son Enrique is correct in saying this, “When Mama starts going to the mall, that’s a sign that things are starting to really go back to normal.” I actually laughed when he called it the “Mama-Back-To-Normal Index!” 

They described their mall adventure as a bit stressful. Wearing their masks and face shields, they walked around quickly in order to do their errands as fast as possible. It was a far cry from pre-pandemic “malling” when you’d walk around leisurely, bump into someone you know, check out stores, buy a thing or two, check what’s showing in the movie houses, stay for merienda, etc.

Even if I’m not very fond of shopping, going to the mall reminds me of wonderful things that I now miss - long lunches with friends, looking at store displays, buying clothes for occasions, having a massage, watching a movie with the boys or my girlfriends. 

I often wonder, what would our next normal be? Now that Christmas parties and long lists of Christmas gifts can be done away with, how will we celebrate Christmas? (Click How will you spend your Christmas in the time of pandemic? and What Christmas expenses will you dodge this year? to read more on this).

Everyone is so excited to end 2020 because of that psychological end of a challenging year mindset. But come to think of it, will there really be major improvements once our calendar goes to 2021? Will businesses really come back soon? Will we be able to kiss and hug each other again?

I don’t know. But as we grapple with all the uncertainties and miss the good old days, maybe we can all take this opportunity to restart. Instead of looking back and missing what we can’t have now, let’s click that refresh button by starting with the basics. Some may not be motivated to assess their year and come up with their 2021 goals because of our precarious situation, but I guess we can all use some WFH – Work From Hope. 

I encourage you to carve out an hour to an hour and a half for this activity. It wouldn’t hurt to give up that time you spend on k-dramas or mindless scrolling on social media to devote to this recollection. I’d also like to hear from you after you do this. There’s a surprise at the end, and I wish you complete it in order to fully benefit and enjoy the activity. 

Link: https://pinsoflight.net/2020/11/30/wfh2020/

Cheers to WFH!

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