After an impromptu two-week trip to Miami, Florida (AKA the swing state of coronavirus deniers), I’ve stayed home for a week straight so far. Naturally, I spent that time sitting in front of my computer for 10 hours a day, bingeing one whole Netflix series per day and aggressively sharing my past work on LinkedIn as a cry for attention from talent recruiters.
That’s until my brain started to melt and my eyes started to sting. I put on some blue light glasses for three more hours of mind-melting screen time before realizing that I am becoming a potato and this is absolutely not how I want to spend my next week.
With nowhere to go and no one to see, I decided to run some kind of errand in an effort to feel like a productive human being again. I threw on my mask and got dressed in my first true fall outfit of the year: the softest green ruched sweater, my new favorite blue straight-leg jeans, a faux leather jacket, and the loudest black boots in my closet. That’s right, I looked good.
I took a 20-minute stroll to Dunkin’, bought myself an almond milk matcha latte, and walked back the same way I came to have an additional stroll in the park. I picked a park bench facing the water and sat there for like two hours, observing people as they passed, making up stories in my head about what they did for a living based solely on the type of shoes they wore.
One woman wore those chunky Dr. Marten’s that every 20-something owns or has considered buying and I decided that she’s an aspiring Instagram influencer. One man wore running shoes with dark blue straight jeans and I decided that he’s a tech bro.
I sipped my latte and thought about how crazy I must’ve looked giggling as I sat by myself on a park bench. Then I giggled even more because I felt like I had a secret that no one else knew about.
As I left the park, I remembered how good it felt to come home after the sun had set. I smiled to myself and realized that I just took myself on a date. And yes, there will be a second date, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth….
What a pleasure it is to truly hang out with oneself. Everyone deserves that kind of reset. Try it and let me know what you find!
kiki 