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An Ode to the Working Life I Thought I Hated Pre-Pandemic
It turns out I miss conference rooms, water coolers — and even networking
I used to be proud of being a cactus — a woman who was prickly, hard to know, content in my reclusiveness. After 16 years working in an office, surrounded by a constant stream of chatter, personalities, and politicking, all I craved was quiet. I wanted to focus on the work. Instead of having to work with brands that didn’t align with my values, I no longer had to smile through gritted teeth. In 2013, I left full-time life in favor of building a business on my own terms. No longer was I tethered to vanity metrics; I had the ability to finally educate my clients on playing the long game rather than be forced to gravitate toward the next shiny object.
In before-times, I’d planned a yearlong journey to explore my adopted home of Southern California. I’d travel through the mountains, the sea, and the high and low deserts. In the midst of pandemic lockdowns, I found myself trapped in Palm Springs where temperatures climbed to 118F on a good day. The air was bone-dry, everything was on the verge of kindling. The heat had a way of swallowing you whole.
For the 90 minutes a day when I left my empty house for an empty road that stretched four miles, I kept telling myself, “You’ll get…
