The Spring Break That Never Ended

One year ago, I stood outside of my kids’ school talking with another parent. It was the last day of school before Spring Break. He had a child in high school, and I remember him telling me that the high school was already planning on going virtual for two weeks after break because of this new virus called Coronavirus.

“What?!” I said. “That’s crazy! There’s no need to close the schools!”

Famous last words. Little did I know that we would not return to school for the rest of the academic year.

Now, one year later, I look back at all that has happened. The year has been hard. We have had to deal with loved ones getting sick, too many people dying, isolation, exposure risks, anxiety, shortages of basic necessities (who knew any of us could love toilet paper that much?), businesses closing, working from home, homeschooling, and quarantines. Many of us have gone 12 months without seeing family or friends, taking vacations, going to live concerts, sitting in a restaurant, going to church, or seeing a movie. We have lived through political unrest, rioting, protests, derechos, stimulus checks, elections, and murder hornets. Just writing all of this is making me shake my head with disbelief.

But, when I reflect on the past year, I also think of a lot of good that has taken place. Despite all of the bad, crazy, and meme-worthy things that have happened, there are many blessings that have provided a silver lining to all-things COVID:

We were forced to slow down

When we were first told that our school would be closed for fourteen days after Spring Break, my kids and I made a paper chain with exactly 14 links, each link having a different “fun” challenge or activity (I say fun, but some of the activities were cleaning the basement...a fun result for me at least). We had no idea what we would do with an extra 14 days off where we couldn’t get together with friends, go out to eat, or even go to a store--or, heck, a public park for that matter! 14 days quickly turned into 30 days...then 3 months...the 6 months. Our Lenten fast from electronics quickly went by the wayside...that wasn’t going to end well when we were stuck at home for who knows how long!

But, you know what? We adjusted.

We learned how to stop and slow down. We learned to stop trying to do five things at once. We learned to stop trying to fill our days by going here and there and doing this and that. We had to stay at home and spend time as a family. We learned to take walks around our neighborhood and to smile at the passersby (from a distance, of course). We played board games, read books aloud as a family, ate dinner on our back deck, did yoga outside, and worked together on house projects. I truly feel that if COVID had not happened and we didn’t have to “flatten the curve”, we would have just kept filling our days with noise and consumerism. Being forced to slow down has been a blessing.

The world got a lot smaller

If only I had invested in Zoom before this all happened...man, I’d be set! But, seriously, what would we have done without technologies such as Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and others? When we were forced to hunker down, work from home, and stop visiting family, these platforms made our world...well, smaller. Physical boundaries no longer placed a restriction on those we could reach. Grandparents started having weekly video story time with grandkids, a student can be anywhere in the world and still be able to attend their online classes, and businesses are able to have a larger reach than they may have had pre-COVID. I personally have met and made friends from the Netherlands, England, and Beirut. The world is smaller than it’s ever been.

Businesses had to adapt and innovate...and did so successfully

It is the sad truth that many businesses were forced to close because of the pandemic. I am not downplaying that at all. Being a small business owner, myself, and one who loves to support small businesses, this makes my heart ache. But, I feel it’s worth mentioning how businesses (many of them being small businesses) learned to adapt how they did business during the pandemic. We saw the rise of online sales through social media (which, to my point above, allowed them to reach more people). My Facebook feed is filled with some sort of live sale nearly every day of the week (thank you to all of those businesses that I follow for spacing out your lives so I can catch them all!). Restaurants quickly adopted curbside pickup and online ordering. Even big retailers moved into the “buy online and we’ll run it to your car” mentality. Our public library even went towards this model. Service-based businesses such as salons and gyms put protocol in place to keep patrons safe. Businesses made it work. They persevered. They didn’t let the pandemic stop them. I feel this says a lot about the strength of businesses--particularly small business owners.

We chose to focus on good news

There is no doubt that it was very easy to get caught up in negativity this past year. A lot of bad things took place--a lot of sad things happened. But, I also found that, among all of this negativity, many of us chose to focus on the good things that were happening around us. (Does anyone else fondly remember John Krasinski’s Some Good News? I loved that show.) The human race found ways to celebrate birthdays with a drive-by parade rather than a party, attend “live” concerts via livestream, and visit loved ones in nursing homes through a closed window. We celebrated “little” things that went viral on social media. Positivity soared if you chose to look for it. It warmed our hearts despite all of the negativity that was plastered on the news. We craved good news, and we chose to find it and share it.

We learned to count our blessings

COVID caused us to learn not to take things for granted. Lockdown was a time of scarcity--we were short on social interaction, hugs, travel, cleaning products, toilet paper, and date nights. We lost the ability to have a cup of coffee with a friend. We could no longer have play dates with our neighbors. We saw healthy and vibrant young adults get sick with this new unpredictable virus. We lost too many people. I personally learned that I need to continuously thank God for everything that I have--no matter how seemingly small-- and not take anything for granted.

So, while reflecting on this one-year anniversary of 14 Days to Flatten the Curve, I actually could only think of good things. It’s funny how in times of trial, we come through on the other side stronger and better. I pray that this reflection helps you to see that, and I pray for your health, happiness, and positive outlook.

Thanks for reading,

~Coach Lisa