Working from home these past few weeks has provided extra time for thinking. Thinking is all about making associations in the brain. One of these associations brought the Bee Gees song Stayin’ Alive to mind. Here’s an excerpt:
……Whether you’re a brother father or whether you’re a mother
You’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’
And we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive
We are all being tested to our limits and just trying to ‘stay alive’ – working, teaching, and caring for loved ones at home because schools and day programs are closed; creating make-shift work spaces to work from home; living under quarantines – whether mandatory or self-imposed; washing our hands so many times each day we think there will never be enough lotion to erase the roughness; adapting to the new smells of Purell, Lysol, etc.; worrying about having enough toilet paper; and, the list goes on and on.
Working from home and spending more time with my adult daughter whose day program is closed for the foreseeable future has caused me to move at a slower pace. To her, she is ‘on spring break’ and school is closed. No further explanation needed. She is content with listening to music, watching a movie, coloring and doing small crafts, oblivious to the magnitude of the crisis surrounding us. She helps me calmly stay grounded to the here and now and ‘stay alive’ one day at a time. For now, I’m taking my cues from her. Life is different, but good.
Jacqueline Gorton is an advocate at DRA. She can be reached at jgorton@disabilityrightsar.org.