I recently met up with my co-workers from my day job, the first time in over six months. Working from home can be so ... WFH. Blurring the lines between the two. So the question now is ... are we working to live or living to work? The two are indistinguishable from each other.

At our luncheon, we reminisced about the office: things we missed (each other), things we didn’t miss (the maintenance people going through our office drawers to look for “contraband,” e.g. anything that plugs in that isn’t on the approved list), and things we wished we had (a free babysitter, a restaurant all to ourselves).

Some of my co-workers have school-age children, so they are struggling with issues that I couldn’t even imagine dealing with in these COVID times: cyber-schooling (or lack thereof), custody issues, dealing with ex-partners, even a hatred of being alone for long periods of time.

And how about this one? Turning work off at the end of the day.

Another co-worker shared that the main office was considering permanent teleworking because productivity is up, and by up, I mean way up. That’s because people can’t stop working. Oh, I just heard my email bing. Let me just finish this one last paragraph. Even though it’s after my work hours, I will do some work calls.

Not only that, but you’ve conglomerated your life into one big pile. My job doesn’t give us a cell phone, office supplies, or a printer. We barely got a laptop, one that operates so badly that I sit it aside so I can work on my own personal laptop.

Instead of working from home, you are now living from work.

But, there is an upside to working from home, too. I’m saving money. I’m spending more time with my husband. And I’m dreaming of moving to a beach house.

And I’ve discovered that being tethered to the office isn’t something that I want for the rest of my life. Reimagine my life not as it is, but how I want it to be.

What would you life be like?

Happenings

Give some press-on nails to make someone’s life better.

The Ghost Files by Apryl Baker is free on Kindle right now. Totally in the mood for something scary … getting ready for Halloween month!

Speaking of scary, The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix got an A+ recommendation from someone in my writing group! And even more scary, I’m re-reading The Shining by Stephen King. The classic frightful book!

Tons of Halloween trick or treat nights and events are closed due to the pandemic. When will we get back to normal? My fear is that we have reached our new normal, even with a vaccine. What are your thoughts?