“I had a totally different post planned for today…” is pretty much what Every. Single. Blogger. has been thinking this week. We are on day 22 of our stay-at-home, school-at-home, work-from-home adventure. If you are newer to this strange club, you are welcome here.

Since we are all healthy and not going out in the world, we have nothing to complain about. Absolutely nothing. Except the ridiculous amount of added email! Apparently every company I’ve ever done business (but haven’t heard from in years) with wants me to know what their CEO thinks. If I’m overwhelmed by my email volume (and remember, I love email), I know for sure that you are, too! If emails from my organized corner of the world is a welcome break for you, I appreciate you staying subscribed.

I haven’t had an old-fashioned ugly cry yet, but it’s coming. I’ve been too busy calming my crying kiddos who actually want to go back to school. This is the true proof that we are living in opposite-world. Just six weeks ago I sat at a very small table with a friend, allowed someone else to serve me food, and talked about this all blowing over before her trip to Paris in May. I could not conceive of a day when all businesses would be closed and I would be terrified to visit the grocery store, let alone my favorite city, where they have been as devastated as we Americans are.

But this email isn’t about what we’ve lost. I do think there are so many silver linings that might still come out of this. Pollution is down (these pictures are dramatic), the earth shakes less, and people are conserving like never before, even if it’s so they don’t have to go to the grocery store. I’ve turned into my grandmother and am saving and re-using aluminum foil. There are going to be so many changes in the next year, and many of them have the potential for lasting good, so get ready for a wild ride. Maybe we’ll finally see how healthcare for all has to be a right, not a privilege. No matter where you’ve been on this politically in the past, you have to now realize that in a pandemic we can’t allow people to be sick and still have to show up for work because they can’t afford treatment and they don’t  get sick pay. Perhaps we will reset the clock on climate change and figure out how to heal the earth. Perhaps we will figure out how to take two of our best natural resources–teachers and technology–and pair them to best educate our next generation. Perhaps I will finally learn how to take an actual lunch hour at noon. I am optimistic that these changes can all be good. And no matter how you feel these days (I swing between so many emotions each day, I lose track), seeing all the “helpers” reminds me of what really makes us human. All the workers on the front lines and the lay people who jump in to provide supplies or just an encouraging word or smile, there is a life force inside of us that keeps us working, helping, and caring about each other.

I’m rushing to get this out this morning so you can end your workweek on an upswing. I hope you pay more attention to the humor this week than the bad news. I wondered how some of my favorite comedians could possibly find humor this week, but they absolutely did, and it made me lol.

This video of the Holderness family, known for their silly song spoofs, made me laugh because I’ve been telling my kids all week that I honestly don’t know how we would have survived if this had happened during my childhood in the 70’s and 80’s. Watch the video 1980’s Guide to Boredom showing what we would have had to put up with during a pandemic.

Let’s not forget the important stuff. What are we going to do with our hair??? If you are stressing, maybe now is the time to try my favorite henna treatment at home.

This week, especially if the weather is nice, many of you are going to really get into that one scary closet or start decluttering the garage. I have some advice for you about what’s changed about decluttering now. 

For sure, I hope you are getting some movement in your day, even if you hate exercise. We’ve started doing a free family dance class on PopsugarFitness every day, along with a walk around the neighborhood. You should see the four of us, including a gangly, sulky teen girl, doing these dances. It may not be pretty, but it gets the job done; calories don’t know if you are moving your left foot or the right. Calories burn off just the same!

If you are, indeed, getting bored, there might still be some organizing to do at home, or some small repair job, like my ceiling patch from when my kids overflowed the toilet. Sigh. There might be a very good incentive to organize your closets...you might find more hand sanitizer. Check it out.

Like you, I’m working through the anxiety and unknowns of today. If you need more positive people in your life, please come join my Clutter-free Facebook Group.  We have a live session every Tuesday at 2 PM, which you can watch recorded as well. I read and respond to every single comment, and there are some really cool relationships being made, so you are welcome here. April is our month to focus on switching wardrobes and organizing closets, so if that’s already on your agenda, we’ll help you make the most of it with the SORT and Succeed system.