H&M sweater
Mavi jeans (c/o) (similar)
Mango flats
& Other Stories bag
RayBan sunglasses
Linjer ring (c/o) (similar)
Mejuri earrings (c/o) (similar)
Location: Goethe Avenue – Chicago, Illinois
Uncertainty is the theme pervading our shared experience at the moment. Like the weather in winter, everyone is talking about the global health crisis as we move into spring. And I can hardly blame anyone. In the healthcare industry, even those of us who aren’t on the front lines have been living and breathing this experience every second of every day for weeks, with plans and goals changing from one hour to the next as our situation evolves.
It’s natural to feel uncertainty. To want answers. And to feel even more uncertainty when you realise that no one really has them. We are all living through this experience for the first time.
The thought that sticks in my mind isn’t about how long it will be before I can leave my apartment, although if that’s where you’re at, I understand – most people aren’t used to the routine of working from home. And many actually don’t have the option, leaving them both at loose ends and facing a precarious financial situation. But that’s not me. So I find myself ruminating about what the world that I eventually get to go back out into will look like. The longer this crisis continues, the more irrevocably our world will be changed by it. Businesses that I love that operate on tight margins may not be able to sustain themselves during prolonged closure. I am envisionning a future with shuttered shops and closed restaurants. A future with fewer flights and less hotels.
…the truth is, while I recognise the incredible inequality that exists in our society, I have largely benefited from that inequality, a fact that is more real to me now than ever. I loved the life I had up to last week. I loved being able to travel the world and buy clothes on a whim and walk out into my neighbourhood for weekly wine dates. The uncertainty surrounding the future of the life I’ve loved plagues me. And that plague of uncertainty comes with a sense of guilt, because I realise with startling clarity just how much of that life I’ve been able to enjoy at the expense of others, particularly those in the service industry.
This too shall pass. But when it does, the world will be changed in ways we can’t yet predict. I’m lucky that I am generally able to adapt to and embrace change with ease – I love an adventure, whatever it may be. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t take time to mourn the life I had and the world in which it existed. While flawed, they were both beautiful.
These days I am feeling incredibly fortunate that I was able to rather easily move all of my office’s operations online/remote so that everyone can work from home and not have to worry about getting paid in full. I can’t image the level of anxiety a lot of people are experiencing right now…
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
It is hard to imagine how life will be on the other side of this, hard to fathom that it will be different, but you are right, it will be. When I think of the small businesses already dying in my town, it would break my heart to lose more of them. And I admit, my days of dog walking have not allowed me to save any money, and it would be nice to have an office job I could be doing from home and still receiving a steady paycheck… if for no other reason than to be able to support those small businesses as much as possible right now.
Chic on the Cheap
One can only wonder how life will be after this.
For example the beauty salon I have gone to for the last +10 years will very likely not survive. I am close friends with the owners who are sisters and who are the bread winners for their homes. It breaks my heart and that is just the tip of the iceberg.