Victoria W.

In this time of COVID, there are a couple of things I’ve seen. One, I’ve seen a lot of resiliency. So let’s be clear: I think people are doing a really good job in a very terrible time. But I think one of the things that has been increasingly difficult is the isolation, the people working from home. And for those who are who are single or who don’t have children in the home, it’s even more isolation.

I see a lot of people struggle for that
human connection.

And some people work really well in that kind of environment and some don’t. So I see a lot of people struggle for that human connection. I’ve seen the excitement in Zoom come and go, meaning the fact that we could see each other was really good. And then the fact that we can only see each other on Zoom started to become quite tedious. I know personally for me, the few times I’ve seen the people that I work directly with, the people who work for me directly, I know that for me personally, when I see them, there’s a whole different level of excitement and energy that comes from being able to interact with the people that you worked day in and day out with.

Our co-workers are family, too
The reality is, is we probably spend more time with our work families in some instances than we do with our own families at home. And so to be distanced from that part of your family for so long, I think I’ve seen it become increasingly difficult.

I’m starting to see the resilience, the ability to jump back up and fight another day. It gets a little bit harder every day as we stay in this environment that we’re in right now.

Don’t be afraid of the struggle that you may be feeling right now
Everybody’s taking on a good face, but there are a whole lot of people struggling right now in this time. So own it. Talk to somebody and be honest about where you are and how you feel. One of the things that I feel like we’re missing in this time is a little bit more empathy and compassion and we stop seeing people in some instances as human and we expect them to be perfect.

If we normalized our ability to talk about our imperfections. I think that we wouldn’t be so quick to judge. I think that we would show a lot more grace.