We Endured: Essays of our Lives During Quarantine

By Cynthia “Salonista" Kosciuczyk

“The Pandemic was a reminder that there’s nothing more important than our health and the lives of our loved ones. With better choices and planning we will be more resilient in the future.”

—Richard Bailey
Mayor of Coronado, California

We Endured chronicles of how lives were changed by the arrival of Covid-19. With experience in research and interviewing people for media, I took a dive into the ways the pandemic affected us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

I have been writing for some time for a LinkedIn Site, Bizcatalyst360. My style is to observe my everyday life looking for connection to the world. Finding an idea that touched my soul, doing some research, and asking questions of those who would know more in a particular area.

My first ones approached the concept of change. As I became more inspired due to being home in the first months of the pandemic, I started writing weekly. I wrote and then turned it to a Facebook live show on a 24-hr. place called the Quarantine Network. The live chat with the audience resulted in more topics to discover. Because of my nomadic and gregarious life experiences, I would find friends and ask a few poignant questions.

“The Quarantine Network was created by humans for humans. Instead of panicking or falling into bad habits, we decided to spend our days being connected to people. We created programs to keep our friends and strangers informed and occupied during dark times. When the light at the end of the tunnel arrived, we had an entire community that had been built.”

—Beau Harvey Doiron
Creator of the Quarantine Network

This book is a testament to all of those in my greater circle who endured with me. I didn’t not want all their efforts and sacrifices to be forgotten. Come dive in with me, I am confident you will be surprised!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823009607

Cynthia “Salonista" Kosciuczyk

Growing up in an East Coast Polish family that valued travel and education gave me an open mind. With engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and educators I really value the why and how of life. This contributed to my unique mix of expertise: science research, teaching, food, art, and textiles. Owning and operating my own businesses (a bakery, a gallery, and a consulting business) taught me many different roles. Participating in the creation of startups, working in design, and my own businesses and technology endeavors. A lifelong passion for textiles and Persian rugs taught me an array of professional skills such as research, writing, and community events. Community involvement resulted in a multitude of business opportunities. Every facet of my work and life comes together like pieces of a puzzle. I have written a few books and many articles as I have a deep desire to share my stories and the stories of others. I strive to be a phenomenal networker and problem solver who continues to learn and grow.

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© 2023 Cynthia Salonista Kosciuczyk. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 979-8-8230-0961-4 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0960-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911007

Published by AuthorHouse 07/06/2023

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FOREWORD

Every so often, the word ‘serendipity’ surfaces when our daily routine is interrupted by an unforeseen, but beneficial intersection of ideas, people, or circumstances. And far too often, we don’t fully grasp the magnitude of such chance happenings. And so it went, as I encountered the unexpected pleasure of strolling through this book from cover to cover. Without question, the right book at the right time for me and for so many who, as I did, will look upon this as a mirror, reflecting many of our own perspectives formed as we traversed through, and as a consequence of the Pandemic. An extraordinary collection of essays crafted with candor and eloquence –ultimately becoming the real-time journal that we can all draw wisdom from as we look back –and look forward to navigating our life beyond quarantine journey.

Dennis J. Pitocco Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, BIZCATALYST 360° CEO & ReImaginator, 360° NATION

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all those whose lives were lost during the pandemic, as well as to all the healthcare practitioners, first responders, and service workers who kept the world going through trying times.

June 26, 2023: We endured our journey over three years, surviving the waves of Covid-19. When these essays were read live, they helped us make sense of the pandemic. Reading then in retrospect, helps us understand, heal, and move forward.

—Rick Amato

National TV host, Founder & editor-in-chief

Your America TV & YourAmericaTV.com

CONTENTS

Foreword

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1     How the Pandemic Instigated Change

Chapter 2     How to Survive Change.

Chapter 3     The Pandemic and the Food Business

Chapter 4     Sleep Yes or NO

Chapter 5     Covid -19 and the Outdoors

Chapter 6     Isolation and the Pandemic

Chapter 7     Healthcare and the Pandemic

Chapter 8     and the Pandemic and Technology

Chapter 9     Education and Covid-19

Chapter 10   Essential Workers during Quarantine

Chapter 11   Transportation: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles during the Pandemic

Chapter 12   Customer Service and Pandemic Behavior

Chapter 13   the Pandemic and the Family

Chapter 14   Fashion and the Pandemic

Chapter 15   Consumer Trends During the Pandemic

Chapter 16   Cooking our way through Covid19.

Chapter 17   Faith during the Pandemic

Chapter 18   Pets and the Pandemic

Chapter 19   Relationships during the Pandemic

Chapter 20   Covid 19 and Books!

Chapter 21   Hobbies: gardening Bloomed During the Pandemic

Chapter 22   Painting our way through the Pandemic.

Chapter 23   Making Music through the Pandemic

Chapter 24   Fun and Games

Chapter 25   Commerce and the Pandemic

Chapter 26   How We Worked during Quarantine: Changed the world.

Chapter 27   Leading through the Pandemic

Chapter 28   The Stress of a Pandemic

Chapter 29   One Year into Quarantine

Chapter 30   Housing us During a Pandemic

Chapter 31   Covid-19 kept us home and Building!

Chapter 32   Cars and Covid-19

Chapter 33   Diversity During a Life under Quarantine

Chapter 34   The Pandemic’s Staffing Challenge

Chapter 35   Technology During the Pandemic

Chapter 36   Our mental health during Life during Quarantine

Chapter 37   Gratitude vs Entitlement and Connectivity vs Loneliness

Chapter 38   Pandemic Power Struggles

Epilogue

References

INTRODUCTION

I have been a writer for BizCatalyst360 for some time. Between doing weekly spots on the Quarantine Network and Prices and Politics, and a contributor for IQ Podcasts, I began a series called Life During Quarantine to chronicle the way the Pandemic impacted our lives. At the beginning, not knowing how long the situation would go on. This is a combination of interviews with real people and research. The idea is to have a record for the future of how our lives have transformed. Thanks for looking with me. Let’s begin with the concept of Change.

The word change, alter, vary, modify mean to make or become different. Change implies making either an essential difference often amounting to a loss of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another. Changing the shirt for a larger size implies a difference in some respects without suggesting loss of identity.

CHAPTER 1

HOW THE PANDEMIC INSTIGATED CHANGE

Life is flux, said the philosopher Heraclitus. The Greek philosopher pointed out in 500 BC that everything is constantly shifting, and becoming something other to what it was before. Like a river, life flows ever onwards, and while we may step from the riverbank. Into the river, the waters flowing over our feet will never be the same waters that flowed even one moment before. Heraclitus concluded that since the very nature of life is change, to resist this natural flow was to resist the very essence of our existence. There is nothing permanent except change, he said. Early in the pandemic I had participated in a webinar hosted by the MIT Management Executive Education with Hal Gregersen and Roger Lehman’s Navigating the Human Side of Transitions in Times of Change, on April 23.

The coronavirus has made all of us navigators of change. When I think of navigating, I have two distinct memories that come to mind. The first is from my childhood. My mother, who we nicknamed Hot Rod Mary, loved long road trips. She would put us all in the car, mention her destination, say which route she was going, throw the map in the backseat and ask us to find us a different route back home. It gave me lifelong confidence in reading maps, finding my direction from anywhere at any time, open to new ideas and directions, and the ability to do anything in motion. The other story about navigation inspiring the title of this talk is from the years I was in a sail racing team.

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We were in a channel with various depths with a vague map of the outlay, and since we were in Swan. In our sailboat our engine was a backup. We had a problem so we had someone with a wrench manually adjusting our speeds, the sonar on so we could gauge depth, and was twilight so not so easy to judge onshore landmarks. Because of teamwork and unshakeable determination and a great captain, we made our destination. This year, 2023, is the 60th Anniversary of the Aegean Rally, the race that made us a team.

Change in our lives can either be something we initiate or something we must do in response to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

If you look over history mankind has devised many ways to elicit a change. I am most familiar with the science views, and some of the most incredible changes in our thinking came from theories like Darwin’s evolution, Newton’s physics discoveries, Edison with electricity, Madame Curie and radiation, and the well-known ones of Galileo and Copernicus and their mind-blowing discoveries. I read and was fascinated by The Knowledge Trilogy book series by Daniel J. Boorstin includes books The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself, The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination, and The Seekers: The Story of Man’s Continuing Quest to Understand His World.

Do you need some reading material? I do highly recommend them; you never know what new ideas you can create. The element of change, or the mathematical symbol Delta, is something in my world which has been a constant. In fact, accepting and navigating change had become my way of life. Looking back at each experience, I see the lesson I needed to learn, and each change manifested the level of understanding necessary for the next level. In my life, I have had 12 hometowns, 37 addresses, 2 marriages, 5 businesses, and numerous positions of many types. To sum that all up in a single statement, I venture to say effort is everything, renew your determination to achieve your goals daily, and never ever give up.

This time the changes are brought about by a factor seen in the microscope who reaches worldwide disrupting health, families, business, and the way the world functions. It is something most of us never expected. What to do? How to think? How will I survive? What about my family? My business? In normal times each of these challenges may happen, this time it’s all of them at the same time to everyone in the world. I read this interesting article; my takeaway is the thought of the title.

The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Forever

Alter the World Order.

I understand that the first reaction is more about how to work through a change. The pain and process have also been likened to the feelings of change we are all experience are very much like experiencing a culture shock: We move from the beginning of being optimistic, to be shocked, to adjusting to eventual mastering the shock.

Unexpected losses, events, or challenging situations are part of all our lives and can cause significant stress. A single stressful event or a series of ongoing events may trigger depression or anxiety at any point in life, even many years later.

Right now, there is no clear understanding of how long this situation will go on, how long it will take to recover, and what will be required to rise above the ashes of what once was. All I know is you must ask the right questions and trust and believe you are not alone while navigating the waters of change. Change that comes completely out of the blue can have a huge impact on your life. Even good changes can trigger distress or make it worse. Understanding the effects of change can help you adjust faster with less difficulty and upset. Even life changes that you’ve expected and planned for can be harder to adjust to than you expect. Changes in role, like becoming a parent or retiring, usually affect important areas of your life, such as:

o where you live

o how you define yourself your goals in life

o people’s expectations of you

o your beliefs

Traumatic events are terrible, unexpected events like accidents, natural disasters, a sudden death or being attacked. These events can result in emotional and psychological trauma, and this can have an impact on all aspects of our wellbeing. There are all kinds of events that require you to make changes in your everyday life that aren’t necessarily traumatic, but still very challenging. Sometimes these events change how you see yourself. Some of these events that can trigger distress include:

• illness, injury or developing a long-term medical condition.

• a job loss or a new job

• a relationship break-up

• change in family make-up!

• a suicide attempt by a close friend or family member

• the death of a close friend or family member

• change of living conditions

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While you may not have control over the events themselves, you can control what you do about them. Ignoring them may only make things worse. For me, when faced with a problem, try to find the best solution. Here is a list of ways to help navigate a change that I read in an article:

1. Break Your Goals Down into Small Actionable Steps

2. Tap into The Power of Routine, Make It a Habit

3. Write Checklists: Track and Share Your Progress

4. Focus on The Most Effective

5. Don’t Try to Reinvent the Wheel

6. Leverage Your Strengths

7. Take Steps to Make It an Enjoyable Process

8. Make Use of Past And/or Preexisting Habits

9. Remember the Little Things

10. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

11. Accept and Move Past Your Failures

12. Don’t Push Yourself Too Far Too Quickly

13. Don’t Expect Things to Stay the Same

14. Prioritize Your Health and Happiness

15. Most places recommend that we sleep for at least seven and a half hours every night. Create me time to unwind and relax. Spend time with your friends and family. Eat healthily and exercise regularly. Write these things in your daily checklists so you don’t forget. To navigate the changes successfully, you will need to be healthy, happy, and energetic. Please remember that change will not be instant. If you or anyone you know feels desperate, help is there!

We can all help prevent suicides one of the best resources 988Lifeline, provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention, and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

CHAPTER 2

HOW TO SURVIVE CHANGE.

Now I understand that for right now it is more about how to work through a change. The pain and process have also been likened to the feelings of change we are all experience are very much like experiencing a culture shock: We move from the beginning of being optimistic, to be shocked, to adjusting to eventual mastering the shock.

Unexpected losses, events, or challenging situations are part of all our lives and can cause significant stress. A single stressful event or a series of ongoing events may trigger depression or anxiety at any point in life, even many years later.

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When it’s changed, we didn’t ask for it, we realize that we’re not totally in charge of our lives and that can feel scary. In addition to having to cope with difficult feelings, our brains process changes differently. We have two parts of our brain involved in responding to change. One is the amygdala, which we share with all mammals and reptiles. It scans for pain/pleasure, safety/danger. When it perceives danger or pain, it triggers the fight, flight or freeze response, which interferes with our ability to think well about our situation and has us running in fear or stuck in denial (freeze) or railing about our situation (fight). That’s why I say change