It's strange how a pandemic can have such opposite effects on people.
For some, it is impossible to go to work. For others, it's essential to go to work. Some find themselves more busy, some find themselves cut loose from the rat-race and thrown back into their homes and told to relax!
Despite this picture, Quarantine has proved to be a pretty busy time for me.
I've gone back to working as a nanny and babysitter, something very much in demand as parents struggle to find a new rhythm. I've started working for my dad's business, doing important data entry and organization, teaching my dad how to transition from paper to online systems. I've recorded self-tape auditions, and found summer work teaching Acting Intensives at STAGES St. Louis.
Perhaps the most fun work I got was delivering packages to board members of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, along with a hilarious Shakespeare scene performed right on their street for them and their neighbors!
As saddened as I am by these events, the overwhelming feeling around me is joy. I'm so grateful to have the resources to take a step back. To have worthwhile work. To see a world grapple with its own expectations for itself.
So I will not feel any guilt in re-reading my favorite books, in taking naps, in playing board-games and yard-games with my family. I will instead accept these gifts, as much as I don't deserve them. I will accept this time for what it is. A strangely beautiful time.