Home as Refuge, Home as Companion

Should I refer to my apartment as my spouse?

We are fumbling through extraordinary times.

Everything we thought we knew about our lives and at least our short- to mid-range futures has been turned inside-out.

Staying home, if we are privileged to do so, and limiting human contact is taking a toll on our collective wellbeing.

COVID-19 has walked into the bar and sucker-punched everyone in the place. And none of us are immune. Sure, some of us, many of us, won't catch it, but we will know someone who has, and we will know people who didn't survive. We will lose our jobs, and if you are in the U.S., you'll likely lose your healthcare tied to that job. The most recent estimates put those losses at 5 million people—and that's in addition to the millions (an estimated 27 million +) who didn't have healthcare in the first place.

Any sense of security we had before COVID-19, regardless of how tenuous, has been eroded.

For those just graduating, what will you do for work? Your entire future is ahead of you—what will it look like? For those who are mid-career or beyond, will you be able to pivot to new earning opportunities when you were thinking about winding down toward retirement? With ageism as a real issue in the workplace—more so for women—will you even be able to get a job?  

Taking Solace

For those who are fortunate to be able to stay home, work from home, and have a home in which to do so, have you noticed that your place has become more than just a place where you sleep and keep your stuff?

For me, and others, the home has taken on a persona. It's not just a stage where we act out our daily lives, the mundane and miraculous, but our homes have become characters in the play, too.

Allow me to explain.

I enjoy making a cozy nest of my home. It doesn't matter how big or small, how well-appointed, or basic, I've always made a sanctuary of wherever I've lived, and I bet you have too. The home is a place to retreat from the outside world, from rush hour traffic, irritating coworkers, and other modern annoyances. The destabilizing effects of coronavirus make having a place to burrow crucial for many of us.

And have you noticed that now home is a part of the dialogue? A partner in the pandemic dance as we make sense of the world we are moving into and grieving, even in small part, the one left behind?

Shut-in Shopping

Confinement has sent us shopping more online, and while cleaning supplies, basics, and snack foods are still high on the list, people I know are buying items for the home. Friends are diving into unfinished home repair, decorating projects, or refinishing furniture they already own. It's as if a lack of control of the external world (pro tip: we never have it) has driven us to control our indoor environment, making it a more pleasant place to shelter for an extended time.

This idea of home as a participant, as a member of the family, is a new one, though. It feels like my flat is a collaborator in my wellbeing. If she's stocked with the basics, clean, and comfortable, then I have a sense that I'll weather the next year or two in pandemic-land with if not grace, relative ease. My home is more than just a sanctuary; now, it's an ally that supports my efforts to stay well, healthy, and virus-free.

Can you relate to any of this?

Has your residence taken on more significance as the prospect of spending much more time indoors and at home becomes a reality? And I don't mean significant in a material possession sort of way, but as something you can count on (mostly) to be safe and as you expect to find it upon waking or returning from grocery shopping?

I realize I ‘m imbuing the concept of and the actual home with human-like qualities, yet I think there's something to this idea that the place we live has taken on a more personal role in the way we navigate COVID-19. What do you think?

LINKS:

• How Can I Factor Climate Change Into My Air Travel? Travel is a privilege and one that's harmful to the environment. Perhaps in the age of COVID, we need to rethink what travel will look like in the future—if there's ever a time again that getting on a long-haul flight seems like a good idea.

• Lazy Cat Kitchen’s Peanut Butter Mousse looks delish! I might make it this weekend.

• From Oxford University Press, What the United States can learn from Portuguese politics

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