I’m a rule follower by nature. As best I can tell, I pretty much came out of the womb this way. Someone once said of me: “If friends had ever convinced you to skip school with them, you would have spent the whole time ruining it for everyone by talking about how you should really be in algebra class.”
So it’s no surprise that social distancing in the wake of COVID-19 really hasn’t been that much of a struggle for me. Sure, I was someone who went, went, went. To client meetings. To DPAC shows. To singing gigs. To wine tastings. To volunteer commitments. To tennis courts. To art museums. To political gatherings. Or at least to my apartment complex’s common areas! No one has ever accused me of being a homebody. But it’s easy for my stickler brain to process that this is just what we need to do right now. The authorities have spoken. And this approach is working. Hey, I don’t make the rules. But I do follow them!
While I acknowledge my immense privilege and good fortune, I have felt more than my share of anxiety over these past several weeks, and I have lost dozens of hours of sleep worrying about the pandemic, the crushing blow to our economy, and the health of our democracy. But here’s where Type A me has felt an odd sense of comfort and freedom during this strange and scary time: Everything is a construct. All of these ideas that we thought were absolutes? They aren’t. The work week is Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., right? Nope. Construct. A student must complete X, Y, and Z before moving on to the next grade level. Another construct. Taxes are due every April 15. Or are they? The rulebook has been ripped to shreds and then lit on fire. We thought we were living in a pretty black and white world, but it is actually quite gray.
When norms are upended like this, it causes alarm. And there’s plenty to be alarmed about at the moment. People have died as I’ve been typing this. But this is also showing me what is possible. And I feel oddly optimistic. If we can turn our economy off like a light, I believe we can reverse course on climate change. If companies can suddenly show workers empathy and understand that dogs may be barking and toddlers may be crying during Zoom meetings, we can raise the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour and think more seriously about our nation’s parental leave policies. Our desperate desire to go to a state park right now and enjoy a hike means that we are collectively showing an interest in protecting and preserving more, not less, land in this country. We are taught to believe that change is hard, and it therefore happens slowly and incrementally, but in reality, everything can turn on a dime. There’s a scary side to that, but a hopeful one, too.
Right now, in my sequestered state, I’m living for fresh bouquets of farm flowers delivered by Color Fields Farm. A phone call with a friend, chock full of deep, therapeutic conversation. The sweet decadence of chocolates that I order from Chocolatay Confections. A gorgeous, unplugged performance from a favorite musician who is holed up in their living room because even famous singers have to shelter at home. My five-mile walks are the highlight of my days – a month ago, I was struggling to convince myself to put down the laptop and head outside for some fresh air. On those walks, through the Five Points area of downtown and then over toward the Trinity Park neighborhood, I have consistently noticed trees in bloom, teddy bears in windows, kids on bicycles, couples having happy hours on front porches, vibrant chalk art on sidewalks, and camping tents in yards.
Maybe we will return to normal – a place where simple pleasures were cast aside for our unrelenting to-do lists and where we rarely pondered what’s possible because we were too busy executing on the familiar. But I hope not. I can’t wait for this nightmare to end. I want to return to healthier times and a functioning economy. But I want to be done with so much of the rest of it. Even if class resumes, I’m going to skip it. I swear.
After a decade as an editor with various NC magazines, Andrea Cash launched her own creative services company, Andrea Cash Creative, in 2017. She helps small businesses and organizations in Durham and Chapel Hill with content strategy and creation, branding, PR, social media, and video and event production.
Andrea is passionate about community building, doing work that benefits the greater good and helping entrepreneurs grow their business in a purposeful way. Outside of work, Andrea sings in her cover band Penny’s Bend, plays tennis as often as she can, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and Book Harvest, and runs communications for grassroots progressive group FLIP NC.
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