Well we survived week one of quarantine aka social distancing from the Coronavirus, and yet there’s still so much uncertainty happening all around us, all across the world. Instead of letting my anxiety get the best of me, I decided last week that I wanted to document our experience – as a family. For me, when life feels like it’s spiraling out of control, I try to just focus on the things that matter. As scary as the situation we’re in is, I’m trying to use it as a way to reconnect with the simple things in life. I created this video montage of our first week “At Home with The Murray’s,” to remind me, and all of us, that social distancing doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, in a lot of ways it’s just what I needed.
At Home With The Murrays (Week 1) – Family Vlog
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Most days we’ve been finding ourselves outside in the yard, teaching our kids about honest work and what it means to take care of your home. We’ve gotten back to taking afternoon strolls with our kids through the neighborhood – something we used to do all the time until we let work and schedules distract us. Then, instead of being glued to our phones and screens until bedtime, we actually (gasp) talk to each other, laugh with each other, and genuinely connect with each other. I’m a little (ok, a lot) embarrassed to say that it wasn’t my kids who needed this. It was me.
Ironically it all came to a head a few weeks back, when I found myself with tears streaming down my face as my husband and I had our own “in-home therapy session.” We both opened up about how we’d been feeling disconnected as a family lately, which mostly centered around being too attached to our phones. Trust me, it was a hard pill to swallow. Mostly because I had to admit I’d been choosing my phone/work/social media over my family and the reasons didn’t matter. What mattered was getting it out in the open and committing to each other that we needed to make a change, together, as a family.
Now, I’m not going to say that this “quarantine” was a blessing, because we all know that what’s happening right now is anything but a good thing. But do you wanna know something truly amazing? We’re not the only ones to feel this way. We’re not the only ones suffering. We’re simply part of a greater community of people who are all coming to the realization that we need each other. Not the facade we know from behind a screen, but a face to face need to connect, and we’ve only realized this need after the moment it was taken away.
I’m fighting back tears as I write this because of the shame I feel knowing how often I pull back from others. Always afraid I’ll say the wrong thing or God forbid someone actually wants to be my friend and I’d have to make an effort. But that’s always been me, and I think it comes from a fierce sense of loyalty. Well the hell with it. The hell with all of it. I need people the same way I expect people to need me, and it’s about time I realized it. I mean, it only took a frickin pandemic to get it through my stubborn head.
So if you see me in the street, just know…We may feel alone, but I promise we’re together. We may feel worlds apart, but we’re closer than we think. Because when this all blows over, whether it’s 18 days or 18 months from now, I’ll be here. And not just from a distance.
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