Dear Unpackers,
Well, hello there. We made it to Friday, didn’t we?! Props to all.
Over here, we are wondering about commitment. Specifically, has the pandemic changed the way we approach the long-term staying power of our jobs and our physical locations?
Carrie here. This line of thinking started when I read an article in which an artist described her move mid-pandemic from New York to Florida as semi-permanent. This is a fascinating term! Is it an oxymoron, or is it actually more truthful than a “permanent” move?
What we know for sure is that the pandemic forced us collectively to live in a state of fluidity (e.g. do we/don’t we celebrate the holidays with family), which then made room to shift norms and habits, and to build new capacity for change. Add to that the “remote” component to work for some (not all, of course)—an untethering of our work to our physical location—and for some, we have different choices to consider than we thought we did pre-March 2020.
It means we can (and maybe must, hello climate change) structure our lives to be agile. We started exploring mobility and definitions of “home” last April, but now we’re extending those thoughts into the long-term about how this need for agility shifts our decision-making.
Here’s one approach: We can think of our locations as lily pads. This inherently places more emphasis on the day-to-day and current lily pad as the destination, more so than the “big house, big yard, final resting place” mentality, which, by the way, is a goal unwanted by some and out of reach for others due to financial and other constraints. Lily pad living requires new muscles to feel settled and “at home.”
Emily, bring me back down to Earth here.
Emily: I like your point on the muscles needed for the lily pad mindset. One big one for me is calculating how much care and cash to put into a semi-permanent space. Is this space worth hanging up a picture frame? Buying a chair for a specific nook? Is this the space where you can now store your high school yearbook, officially moving it from the security of your parent’s basement?
Water Cooler Convo
Carrie: Okay Emily, give us the latest re: your resolutions for 2022. Can you parallel park?
Emily: No progress on parking, although Unpacking superfan Emma has volunteered to give me lessons. Resolutions 1, 2 and 7 are coming along nicely.
Emily: Carrie, I’m not sure why, but this story of Jonathan the 190-Year-Old Tortoise living his life eating guavas on an island while being monitored and tended to by a team of humans just made me very happy. I thought you’d appreciate.
Carrie: You are absolutely correct.
Carrie: Another happy thing: Did you know, Emily, that you can buy tickets and screen movies premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this week? It’s so cool!
Emily: What! Checking this out now. Any recommendations for ones to watch?
Carrie: I’m not sure what all is available at this point, but I have seen Framing Agnes, TikTok, BOOM. and Am I OK? and recommend them all.
Alright that’s a wrap for now, dear Unpackers. Hope your weekend lily pad is floating down the stream gently and merrily.
Your pals,
Carrie and Emily