It’s 7:30 in the morning and I am at home, seated on my bed staring into the screen of my laptop, typing these words, getting myself mentally ready for the day. Nope my bed is not my office, although it is starting to feel like it. My designated workspace is just a few steps away from my bedroom, and a few more steps will lead me straight to my balcony.. Yeap, that is it. The balcony is as far as I can go. Not just for me, but for my husband and our 2yo daughter too. Truth is, anywhere in the house feels like an office to me. The sofa, TV area, kitchen counter, dining table, just name it. It seems like the line to distinguish home and office is rather thin and shady.
Two years ago, around this time in 2019 was when I had just started working again after taking an extended maternity leave. I remember what my morning routine was like - woke up at 6:15am, showered and prayed, took my time to choose a matching shawl to go with my office attire for the day, painted some colour on my face to bring my mundane face to life, and by the time it reached 7:45am I was already on my way to the car park. By 8:30am I should have already reached DUKE highway, en route to the office accompanied by three cool radio deejays from Mix.fm. By the time the clock hit 9ish I should have already reached the office, surrounded by a bunch of happy go lucky colleagues.
The journey to work has always been time consuming for me. It will usually take at least 1.5hrs one way depending on the traffic. I used to despise driving to work considering the substantial amount of time wasted on the road. In hindsight, it was a form of escapism for me. It was a joyride to work, but now driving to work or driving to anywhere at all feels like a distant memory to me. With WFH as the “new norm since March 2020, to be able to drive to work is like a luxury in today’s context. Think about it. From a 1.5hrs journey to work + 1hr of getting ready, is now reduced to just 5 mins max. 15 steps away from my bedroom. The joy of getting ready for work has ceased to exist. It is now.. a fragment of the what was’.
All that aside, I am grateful nonetheless. The MCO is a blessing in disguise for me. Working from home allows me to see my little Adra grow right under my nose, without me missing any of her important milestones. Both my husband and I are co-parenting quite nicely, I think. We could depend on each other. These two are my colleagues now. Our household is our office and these two human beings are my amazing colleagues.
I can never make up for all the times that I have missed and lost, away from my family while I bury myself with work. Plus, I can drive to work again once this pandemic is over, when things are eventually somewhat “back to normal” again.
It is now 7:45am and it is raining heavily outside. Hmm time to hit the snooze button and still make it in time for work.
Laters.
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