A Stay-at-Home Fashion Debut (pc: Madison Wagner)

Are you at home right now trying to get your life together while you're teaching your kids on something called 'Zoom' that you thought was a reference to a car commercial (name that brand)? Or are you trying to figure out what's next as you just lost a job or found out some heartbreaking news about someone you know, health-related or otherwise? Whatever is going on in your inner circle and/or personal life, I'm sure it's not easy.

The Quaker Voluntary House feels a lot of different things about being at home, as we try to navigate working from home with so many people and reckon with the changes to our routines. I don't want to speak on everyone's behalf, but I've heard many echoes of our gratitude to have stability and a community to lean on during a time where we all are feeling out-of-sorts.

I realize this might feel like an attempt to have a humorous take on a very strained, emotionally draining time...mostly because it is. Mostly because I feel like it's a good opportunity to bring joy, to allow ourselves to laugh, and heck why not laugh and cry at the same time!

There was one thing that helped me feel sane during this third weekend of not leaving the house, yes, I realize that's a long time. But it's necessary! I have left the house for walks, jogs, etc. I'm okay. Anyways, the one thing that's encouraged me is a post by a writer that said, "You don't have to make the most of this time." And at last, I felt like a weight had been lifted. I can free myself from the expectations of having all the answers. Some days I may want to watch five hours of terrifying news headlines, most likely not very often, and some days I scroll on Instagram telling me to join 10 different live videos of musician, yogi, friend doing a Livestream of pilates, concert, or in-home Q&A. Most of the time, it feels like it's too much either way. So it encourages me to turns towards my tried and true's. The things that I KNOW make me feel better instead of trying to coming up with new answers or things to do.

What I've discovered is that I will often avoid the things that are the most healthy for me. Idk about you. So this time is turning me back towards mindful exercise, journaling, creative projects, talking about my feelings, and the list goes on. It becomes even more imperative now to find things that fill me up and tend to my personal growth. And so, this fashion debut was a journey taken with my housemates in attempt to express our stylistic interpretations of the 'Work From Home', 'Stay-At-Home' Order. A creative project as a means to write another blog post I've been wanting to do since the beginning of September. What can I say? I procrastinate.

And so, you might be wondering, "What can (does) a day in the life of a Philly QVS Fellow look like?"

here's a *hypothetical* day.

1. Wake up, Flawless.

2. Surround myself with natural light, must drink coffee, and sit by my new best plant friend.

3. A Little Morning Grumpiness turns into post-breakfast Happiness.

4. Okay, let's put on some real clothes. Just kidding.

5. Mid-morning Crossword puzzle break!

6. Pre-Lunch Excitement.

7. Now, It's 2 PM and I'm ready to take on the Day!

8. Is it 5 PM yet???

9. When you finish the day strong, and you look in the mirror feeling like a WFH (Work from Home) champ.

10. Should I go out and see friends? NO, stay home and lay in bed.

11. When I think about doing it all over again tomorrow...

Despite the humor behind this, there are some serious themes I've been thinking about as I'm sure many of you are. Like the importance of connection, whether or not we have security/stability in our lives, what our priorities are...Regardless of your situation, this is something we are facing together, to some degree or another.

Are there any activities/thoughts/practices you've been doing that have given you energy? Taken energy away? Have you avoided it or clung to it during this crisis?