The Upside of Staying Inside

  • Posted on: 28 April 2020
  • By: Tori
The Upside of Staying Inside

The Upside of Staying Inside

As we enter our second month (Or is it third? My concept of time has evaporated along with the toilet paper supply.) of sheltering at home, the challenge to stay both safe and sane remains. As business owners, we are diligently employing everything from virtual meetings and physical distancing to using gloves, masks and proper sanitising on job sites to keep our treasured clients and crew members protected. And of course, we are going along with these same measures in our “civilian” life, as well. But in the midst of emptying our sixtieth bottle of Purell and contemplating the oddity of wearing a mask to go into a bank, both Victoria and I keep turning over this thought in our heads:

“While the phrase ‘silver lining’ might be a bit of a stretch, there simply has to be at least a few positive things that can be extracted from this crisis.”

And after consulting with our esteemed canine associates Purdey and Pippa, this is what we came up with: 

Community Kindness – While there are many differing opinions as to how the virus is being handled, the one thing it seems we can all (hopefully) agree on is that we are truly in this together.  And I’d say that the acts of kindness being reported both in the news and by word of mouth are proof of that. One of my favourite stories I’ve heard of late is about a woman food shopping for herself and her three boys. Per the grocery store limits, she was only allowed one gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. A woman behind her (who had raised ravenous boys herself) knew that meager ration wasn’t going to go far. So, she went and gathered her limit of those two staples, purchased them and ran them out to the other woman as she was loading her groceries into her car. 

Pollution Solution – One of the more obvious positive side effects of humans moving around less is the drastic reduction of pollution in the Phoenix metro area. Fewer cars on the road = bluer skies (and, according to Victoria, a marked increase in the number of bunnies and other desert creatures scampering about when she takes the pups for their morning walk).  

Crazy Creativity – After you’ve watched the entire inventory of Netflix (twice), it’s likely time to switch from consumption to creation mode. Many people have turned to making fun videos to send to family and friends during this shelter-fest. This one is our current favourite (a truly hilarious parody of “One Day More” from Les Miserables). Cooking is another creative outlet that is on the rise as people rediscover beloved childhood comfort foods or attempt to recreate the restaurant dishes they are missing most. We’ve actually had quite a few requests for kitchen remodels from people looking ahead to further culinary adventures “when we are through this.” And – no surprise – Victoria (the “Create” in “Create and Construct”) is going into creative overdrive. Every painting in Chez James is now off the wall because she has challenged herself to replace them all with new artistic visions before the lockdown is done. Our furniture has been moved approximately seventeen times (but who’s counting?) “just to freshen things up.” And we are now proud owners of a newly-planted jungle…er, collection of greenery…in the backyard. 

Lastly, this unprecedented time has truly put the spotlight on the necessity of teamwork. Whether it’s with colleagues, family, friends or strangers – is what will not only get us through this challenge, but find us better on the other side of it. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue doing what we do: not just building houses, but truly making homes