Working from home has it’s own unique set of challenges.  The refrigerator calls, I know there are Oreo cookies in the cookie jar, and the deck bathed in sunshine … but dutifully, I am glued to my office chair, two computers heating up the space around me.   The radio drones in the background and through the open window I can hear birds chirping, the occasional passing car, and every now and then the sounds of children playing.

To quote the title one of my favorite author’s (Caroline Knapp) book – I would make a “merry recluse”.  Not only does solitude not frighten me, I embrace it.  It’s my reward for having gone out into the world which is filled with all that stimuli.  All those people, conversations, phones ringing, emails flying, it can be exhausting if you’re a particular kind of person.  Some people thrive on all those extrovert buttons, but I’m not one of them.  Stress, for me, is having to go out.

This is not a fear of the outside, or agoraphobia, it’s not really a “fear” at all.  It’s just a preference, my happy place.  So, I may be dealing with this “social distancing” with a bit more enthusiasm than others.  It’s license to decline invitations and a pass to hole up.

Still, I must go out for food and other supplies … and, masked, I do.  And maybe by the time all this is over, I’ll have had my fill of hermit-hood, at least for a little while.

Stay safe everyone.