Snap Out of the Pandemic
Restore your life (almost) Post Pandemic
I know you did it.
We all did it.
Some of us are still doing it.
Yup, I am talking about pandemic-wear. We wore our favourite sweatpants five days in a row. We pretended that bras don’t exist. We showered less and used more dry shampoo. Elasticized waists deceived us into thinking the homemade sourdough bread did not have a toll on our circumference. And it felt so good to get sloppy… for a while.
After the “flattening” curve morphed into first, second, third, and fourth waves, letting go, for many of us, lead to an unmotivated mundane existence. I found myself becoming less and less productive because time was not of the essence. The laundry could wait. I am just wearing sweatpants anyway. I was so busy before the pandemic that most of my spare time was carefully calculated to be über-productive so as not to miss the opportunity. I guess it's a credence to the expression that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. Once the pandemic began, I was no longer that busy, productive person.
Not only was I less productive, but my mood was also feeling like it was in a funk. I wasn’t in a bad mood per se, but I fell into a kind of “no-mood” state. Days passed and I lost track of months. Every day seemed the same. Blasea.
Now I am vaccinated and life is starting to open up again. Unlike when I was stuck at home, people can now actually count how many times in a row I am wearing my sweatpants. Masks are still required in most places so I can just get away with applying eye makeup, but my hair, well, good thing it grew long during the pandemic because hair clips and ponytails extend the need to shampoo as regularly as I did in the before-times.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
How does one kick back into gear? How do I get to the spot where I take the time to look put together again?
I suggest the “fake it to you make it” approach works wonders. One of my favorite authors said, “Act the Way You Want to Feel” in her book, The Happiness Project. In other words, if I want to feel put together, I should take the time to be put together, and that starts with my appearance. Don’t we all feel differently when we get dressed up? There is still a time and place for comfort wear, but when I go out — ensuring my clothes fit well, match, and are paired with makeup and jewelry — it creates a pep in my step. I am not talking about insecurity here. I am not talking about feeling so unsure of myself that I have to hide behind makeup and fancy clothes. I am talking about feeling the pride in presenting myself in the best possible version.
Let me clarify with a story. I used to teach theatre to high school-aged students. There are many stages of rehearsal when producing a play. The first stage is very much akin to the pandemic sweatpants stage: it’s casual, it’s exploring stage positions (blocking), it takes place in the actors’ street clothes. We explore subtext and we research the literary intentions of the playwright. But there comes a stage, well before the official costume runs, where actors simply wear the shoes of their characters. It changes your posture, it can illuminate lines of dialogue that you never noticed before, the actor can’t help but to feel as the character does. I find, as a Director, it is at this stage that actors start to become the character. So what would happen if we all switched from our pandemic running shoes to boots, to sandals, to high heels, to dress shoes? I would wager we will start to feel OUR character again. The mediocre version of ourselves will lift and our productive, go-getter character-selves will begin to return.
Robert Creighton wearing his Duke of Weselton rehearsal boots in the Broadway Frozen reboot.
In the later stages of theatre rehearsal, costume rehearsals and costume parades begin. Now the transformation from actor to character is completed. What would happen if we costumed ourselves the way we want to feel? We want to feel happy, confident, and energetic.
The final rehearsal stage is a “cue-to-cue” with the tech requirements including sound and lighting. It is always astonishing to notice how costumes, props, and sets can transform to brilliance with skillful lighting. There is a famous designer at the Stratford Festival Theatre in Ontario, Canada, named Desmond Healy. His work has always caused me to marvel. One season, I was earning additional theatre teaching qualifications and we were given the opportunity to work alongside the designers of a show called Amadeus. I watched with wonder as boxes and boxes of scotch tape were brought into the shop. Rod iron-looking structures were also brought in from the shop. Next, I watched the team scrunch scotch tape all along the rod iron. I asked what prop this was supposed to become… to my astonishment, the answer was “a crystal chandelier”! It looked like a kindergarten kid had decorated it.
Next, I saw the team with three colours of tin foil in hand. They would crumple it up and flatten it onto a 1x1 foot piece of plywood. It was then painted over with some kind of clear shellac. I couldn’t figure out what these squares were going to be.
Fast forward to the opening night of the play. I had a seat front row centre. The lights dimmed to black to start the show. When they crescendoed to reveal the set, the audience literally gasped! Then… they clapped! Not a word of dialogue was yet spoken but the audience clapped. It was breathtaking! Under the skillful lighting, the plastic-taped chandelier sparkled and gleamed like REAL crystals were hanging from it! The tinfoil squares were pieced together to create a real-looking marble floor! The effect was a perfect replica of royalty during Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s era.
All this was created on a shoe-string budget with a bunch of items that seemingly had no potential morphed into complete and utter elegance. So, I bet you are seeing my analogy. Sometimes we let ourselves get down on ourselves and our looks. We think that since we don’t have that perfect nose, clear skin or booty we see on Instagram that we can’t still make heads turn. Desmond Healy’s creative designs prove that he can always make something out of the most modest of materials. And so can we.
My daughter has just started a company where she designs and makes jewelry. Her brand philosophy is “elevate any outfit” and “awaken your eminence” with her timeless pieces. Her ads say, “It’s time to shine”.
We have been through a historic pandemic, damn it! It was hard. We learned lots. And now it’s time to shine.
You can start to shine by starting slowly and adding jewelry to your sweatpants. You can get out of the house; because we can now. You can enjoy the company of family and friends that we took for granted before. You can start to shine with productivity as you face your to-do lists again. You can start to shine by signing up for a course or an activity you have always wanted to try.
It’s time now. It’s time to shine.
ADDENDUM
The Stratford Festival is a wonderful four venue collection of live theatres in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It is world-renowned for its classical Shakespearean productions but also produces popular Broadway Musicals, and plays. Stay the weekend, take in the art in the park, numerous classy restaurants, and enjoy the Avon-Maitland river. You will feel like you are at Shakespeare’s Stratford Upon Avon in England!
DIsclosure: the last few paragraphs were a shameless advertisement for my daughter’s company made by a proud mom. You can order from her website caldwellco.ca or check out her Instagram @Caldwell.Company
Fair is fair… My son also started a company during the pandemic so if you need any home renovations completed, contact Red Robin Contracting for all your needs.
The author I referred to is Gretta Rubin who wrote The Happiness Project. It is an inspiring read with some actionable suggestions presented with the appropriate amount of humanism and humour!
And it’s not just wishful thinking that purposeful smiling can make you feel happier. There are actual studies that verify this. Check them out:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/smiling-happy.htm
online.uwa.edu/news/benefits-of-smiling-and laughter (Psychology and Counselling News)The rehearsal picture features my Broadway friend, Robert Creighton, in rehearsal for the re-start up of Disney’s, “Frozen”. They are at the stage in rehearsal that I described. He is featured wearing his costume boots preparing to play the Duke of Weselton. @frozenbroadway
