Wow. One year. A two week shelter-in-place has completely turned into a year of doing not a whole lot but staying at home. Some people’s lives were not completely changed by this pandemic, but oh my gosh, my life is completely different than it was a year ago.
One week before New York City shut down, I put my two week notice in at my investment banking job that was sucking my soul from me. I was so excited to move to another finance job that was a 9-5 instead of a 6-5 and to actually get my life back and more fun. I remember making all of these grand brunch plans for my time off, all the museums I was going to visit, the travel I could do with my new found freedom.
7 days later, I was forced to stay inside my apartment so I could stay healthy. It was a wild ride for the first couple days and then life got even weirder. M and I decided to leave NYC for a little while and retreat to Pennsylvania. Well, that little while turned into forever.
A few weeks after we relocated to Pennsylvania, I lost my job. I was faced with unemployment for the first time in 10 years. My whole personality revolved around working my high stress job- I didn’t know who I was anymore.
After living with M’s parents for months trying to ride out the pandemic and my unemployment, our apartments in NYC needed to be packed up and emptied. That day in May was the last day I was in NYC and boy, I do miss it. But, I know I wouldn’t like living there now, and going back to visit as often as we want once we are done with this pandemic sounds even better to me.
9 months in, we decided that this thing was not going anywhere, so we decided to put down roots and we bought a house! It’s been so exciting living together for the first time, handling home issues, and generally making a home filled with love and laughter. I honestly didn’t think we would be at this point for years, but it feels so right for us right now.
As for my career, I realized that working to build someone else’s company, someone else’s dream, being a cog in that machine is not for me at this point in my life. That’s why I started this blog- I needed a creative outlet and maybe one day I will be able to monetize it. I’m also pursuing my own real estate career- I figured I would much rather take the risk now and work to build something of my own because relying on other people will not always work out.
I want to give gratitude to the time of life I am currently in. I am so grateful that my family has not been affected by this pandemic, and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunities I’ve had this year.