I know that there were those of you who got closer to your families, discovered new hobbies, and enjoyed working from home. For some people, the pandemic isolation was a pause from our busy, interconnected, and overscheduled lives. I hear you.
That wasn’t my experience. I’ve never worked from home, which I know is weird for an academic, but as the parent of three kids in a busy multigenerational household, I found things went best if I worked at work and was engaged as parent, partner, and daughter when I was at home. I hated working from home, loathed online meetings with a fiery passion.
I missed travelling so much. I missed my friends and my communities. I love the people I live with, and I couldn’t have gotten through it without them, but it was a rough time.
And yes, I know I was also lucky. We have a house with a backyard. I had meaningful work that continued through the stay-at-home restrictions. Most importantly, no one in my close circles got very ill. Still, it seemed impossibly hard.
Anyway, mostly I’ve moved on, but occasionally things turn up that I bought during the pandemic that remind me of those days. This weekend it was the nap dress.
What’s a nap dress? A pandemic fashion trend–see Aren’t all dresses nap dresses? and Okay, I gave into another pandemic fashion trend and bought a nap dress (and it has pockets).
“I’m still working at home, working out at home, and napping at home. I’m starting to make clothing choices that make sense for not much leaving the house. I’ve written before about what to wear when working at home and working out at home. The nap dress is one answer to what to wear when working at home and napping, because (in my case) very long workdays, inconsistent sleep due to nightmares and pandemic anxiety, and late evening bike races.”
Here I am with my mother at the Fit is a Feminist Issue Backyard BBQ, wearing my pandemic nap dress:
I still like the nap dress, but it got me thinking about the things we bought during the pandemic and whether they still play a role in our lives.
First, there are the purchases that have just become part of our post-pandemic lives–webcams and headphones for online meetings, and a bike trainer with power so I could race on Zwift, join a bike team and hang out with cyclists from around the world. Zwift and Discord made a new community possible. I’m still doing some meetings virtually, and I’m Zwifting during the winter and enjoying it.
Second, there were the friend trends–the hygge headbands that the feminist philosophers adopted when we couldn’t get proper haircuts (I still wear some of mine) or the family fashions. My extended family all bought Oodies–large oversized fleecy hoodies good for hanging out in the backyard around the fire, where we had to visit since we couldn’t spend time together indoors. Those we’ve kept.
Third, some pandemic purchases have long since been given away. In that category I’d put all the cloth masks and work from home wear that looks forrmal on Zoom, but isn’t. I bought a fleece suit jacket that felt like PJs but looked like a real suit jacket online. It was one of the first things to go to the charity shop.
How did your pandemic purchases fair? Any still feature prominently in your life?