On Friday, I found myself sitting (socially distanced) with a few members of our IT team, drinking a hot chocolate and taking a few moments to connect about things that weren’t work related.  It was incredibly refreshing.  It’s crazy to think that I have been working with members of this team for over 3 months, and it was the first time we had sat in a room and talked face to face.  We shared stories about family life and navigating a pandemic.  We laughed and, for a moment, felt human at work.  

This morning, I was back on campus, this time for a team meeting organized by our finance and operations division.  The team has been doing some visioning and team building during the past few months, and today they were able to share that work with the broader team.  We started the morning out in the courtyard, engaged in a simple team-building activity.  We had to collaboratively determine what we would take with us if we were heading out for a weekend of survival in the Costa Rican mountains.  Mostly, we laughed.  Then we filed into the cafeteria, a big space that could accommodate participants safely while we enjoyed a traditional Costa Rican breakfast.  It was one of those informal, “water cooler” types of moments that we have all been living without for the past 6 months.  

I try to have a consistently stoic, optimistic view on life.  During the pandemic, that has sometimes meant that I push certain frustrations or disappointments into the back of my mind, and choose to focus instead on the blessings and opportunities that have presented themselves.  Generally speaking, it’s an outlook on life that serves me well.  But I realized during these two activities just how much I have missed socializing with colleagues and friends.  These were simple, relatively short moments – but they felt significant.  

Now I’ve retreated back into isolation for the rest of the work day.  While there is some ironic solace in that  I can take off my mask, it certainly doesn’t feel as good as being with the team.