The Not-Entirely-New Normal

Over the past week, I can’t believe how many times I have typed, said, heard or read the phrase “Social Distancing”. So much so that “Social Distancing” is now the primary suggestion that pops up when I type “so” on my phone. If it’s not the “word” of year (if there really is such a thing), I’d be surprised. Either way, it appears that it will be the new normal for the foreseeable future. Although, not ENTIRELY new for some. In all honesty, I can’t say that I’ve been struggling with the isolation of said Social Distancing. Truth be told, as a introvert I’ve spent more than a little of the past 40+ years social distancing so, for me, it (along with frequent hand washing and minimizing face touching) is somewhat of the norm for me. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Let’s go back.

For six weeks I didn’t work. Ah, the life of a freelance video editor … especially a traveling freelance video editor who leans toward working on a remote basis whenever possible. And since I was spending those six weeks housesitting in a mountain home, overlooking Okanagan Lake in Peachland, BC, I would say I was living up to the “remote” qualifier.

On the upside, the lack of editing work gave me more than a little time for mountain hikes and any other recreational activities I could come up with. And, as seen in my previous post, I even made a few short videos of some of those activities, primarily for my own amusement – but also for the eight or nine people that might still find their way to this blog these days. On the downside, there were times that boredom definitely crept in – not to mention the lack of income which was becoming a bit of a concern. Little did I know those days were prepping me for the weeks to come.

Despite the lack of editing work while in BC, I could take some comfort in the fact that I knew a quick-turnaround and somewhat big project awaited me upon my return to Ontario. Yes, the BIG downside would be that of being back in Ontario but at least there would be a paycheque (or, more likely, an e-Transfer) at the end.

I returned to Ontario on the evening of March 5th – an evening that concluded with an impromptu get-together with a few friends over a Guinness or two at a local pub … there may have been a loaded nacho or two consumed as well. Despite (or maybe because of) my aforementioned unofficial life-long social distancing training, I’ve never been one to take outings like that (or the opportunity for outings like that) for granted. After all, you never know when they might be taken away. As such, a good time was had by all.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, returning on the 5th. The next morning I found myself sitting at an edit suite at my client’s place. I would spend the bulk of the next seven days there. And when I wasn’t working on the project there, I was working on it back at the house. 13-15 hours a day. Admittedly, part of those long days were because my ever-aging laptop doesn’t particularly enjoy working with 4K footage. Regardless, the Friday deadline was constantly looming and didn’t really care about such trivial challenges.

Thursday afternoon came and, while a long night of rendering and exporting of the final video awaited, we were on schedule for a timely finish. Then the event was cancelled. Sigh. Welcome to the new normal. Well, maybe not entirely.

Oddly enough, since the grounding to a stop (or near stop anyway) of much of the world and economy, I actually find myself with a few video editing projects of the active, imminent, or (less promising) tentative variety … just when I was seriously contemplating using some of my free time to learn the dark art of making sourdough. My future as a baker will have to wait … which is probably for the best based on my last trip to the grocery store which revealed a total lack of flour. Apparently, the coronavirus is bringing out the baker in a lot of people.

And that pretty much gets us back to where we started several paragraphs ago. Social distancing. Working remotely. And more social distancing. These are certainly interesting times we’re living in.

Oh, one last sad side note: In addition to all of this coronavirus craziness, this week also included what may have been the passing of the least memorable Spring equinox ever. For those that missed it, it was on Thursday. Welcome Spring … you deserved a better start.