Lessons from a year in quarantine

My home office on the morning of March 7, 2020.

Well, we're one year in.

A year ago in California, we began a "2-3 week" quarantine and shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. [Spoiler alert: we're still in it 12 months later.]

How are you doing, mi amigo??

How were you doing then? How are you doing now as a result of all that's happened over this year?

Let's take some time to reflect on this very odd anniversary.

In my latest video, I share exactly what was going on in my life: what new projects I was looking forward to, and how in retrospect I realize I was really struggling just to stay afloat, financially and emotionally.

Living through a year of the pandemic has added a lot more strain to each of those areas, but it's also allowed me to rearrange how I was handling my business and my pace of life, and to reprioritize my health, relationships, and growth in all areas.

Ultimately...there's been a lot of blessing in this year, for me.

Perhaps there's been some hidden blessings, large or small, for you too?

And yet...I know my experience is not everyone's experience.

"¿Por qué escribí estás historias? Las escribí para documentar parte de la historia de mi familia, pero, sobre todo, para expresar la experiencia de un sector más amplio de nuestra sociedad que ha sido frecuentemente ignorado."

Why did I write these stories? I wrote them to document part of my own family history, but, more than anything, to express the experience of a much larger sector of our society that has been frequently ignored.

- Francisco Jiménez, Cajas de cartón

As the author of our most recent book from my advanced Spanish class El Club de Libros, Francisco Jiménez, alludes to in the excerpt above, so many of our essential workers often go unseen.

Perhaps you are one of those workers. I know many of my students are.

We could not do it without them - and yet, that doesn't mean that they get the recognition, the appreciation, the compensation, and the thanks that they deserve.

Our essential workers often end up stuck in the middle of unhappy parties on both sides, unable to please everyone and on the receiving end of a lot of public frustration.

As we reflect on a year of the pandemic together and thank our essential workers, I've also got a thought to help you deal with the frustration you're feeling, no matter what "side" you're on.

This perspective change will help you get the best possible outcome from each conversation and each conflict that you are going into frustrated.

It's all in my latest episode of #SpanishSaturday, my weekly, bilingual life and language coaching conversational series. Click to listen or watch below.

Here's to finding gratitude, honoring those no longer with us, and moving forward together!

Your life & language coach,

P.S. - If you could use a “personal trainer” for to build a strong, healthy foundation, reach out to me for a free discovery call. Let’s chat about how coaching can support you in creating a good diet for your mind and life.

Are you ready to stop trying to outrun a bad diet? Join me to focus on your foundation first in my latest episode of #SpanishSaturday.

Click below to listen and watch.

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