COUPLES IN QUARANTINE
Truth be told, we planned to put this post together a while ago— like, a few weeks into quarantine when being stuck at home was a lot more novel than it is now. See “way” back then, you didn’t really know how people were holding up during the early stages of this new normal. Fast forward a couple months, and now we’re all on the receiving ends of Instagram posts, Stories, and (*sighs*) TikToks showing how the people we love and follow are dealing with life in quarantine.
But even so, you don’t always get the full story of what people are really going through via Instagram (us included). So we reached out to just a few of our favorite creative couples around to see how they’re spending their time and dealing while in quarantine.
SARA + ROCKY
Dallas, TX
Day 52, yes, we have been home with each other and 2 kids for 52 days straight. If you would have told us when we started that we would be home for 52 days straight or 60 or 70, we would have said there is no way we can do it. And yet, here we are. Right in the middle of it and working hard in order to keep going.
Our names are Sara, Rocky, Ezra and Marlow Garza. We live in Oak Cliff and we are family that quarantines. To say that it has been a unique experience would be an understatement but I think we can honestly say it has not been terrible. Is it hard at times, yes. But terrible, no.
Our kids are 4 1/2 and almost 2, and each of us own and run our own businesses. Pre-covid our kids went to school Monday through Friday and we each had 5 full days to work. So, as you can imagine, the last 50+ days has been quite the adjustment. We have hit a rhythm as of late where Rocky works M-W-F and Sara works T-TH while the other parent is on full parent/school/keep everyone alive duty. One parent locks themself in the bedroom and the other spends many hours outside on the trampoline and on the swings. We have frequent “state of union” meetings where we figure out who is working, when we are working out, who needs a break and on what day we will have Gloria’s margaritas with our dinner. We would both agree that one of the most difficult things we have faced, that we didn’t really think about, is that when you have 2 little kids, there is no alone time. No time to watch that show you love in the middle of the day when you need a break. No reading your favorite book in the afternoon and honestly, no real moment of solitude until the kids are sleep. It has been hard. You grow impatient and sometime have to just go outside and take a breath. But it also teaches you - teaches you to trust your gut, to give more than you thought you could, and to realize even in the hardest part, we are so grateful for all we have.
Although it may not be the most ideal situation, it is working. And the more we think about it, the more grateful we are.
Not only for this time together but for the work we have put in over the last 10 years as a couple that has really allowed us to keep our heads on straight, at least most days. If you are single, at home alone, we see you. If you are married, have kids, lost your job, are trying to pivot or feel stuck. We see you.
And when you need to, go outside, take a breath (6 feet away from anyone) and give yourself the grace to start again. This too will pass and let us prepare for the joy we will find when we can hug our friends again. We are with you and Happy Quarantine from the Garzas.
R’EL + MARCUS
BROOKLYN, NY
We’ve decided to take this time to rest and reset. As freelancers, we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to always be on the grind.
Even during the quieter moments, we’re typically plotting on our next move. However with the uncertainty of the times, we can’t really do that.
Meditating and saying daily affirmations have stayed apart of our routine. Staying active has been key whether we do at home workouts over zoom or go on a run ( mask on of course). We’ve been staying inspired by learning new things on YouTube, checking out other photographers work, and even going through and re editing old photos that are stashed away on old hard drives.
Scheduling game nights on Houseparty with friends, going on daily walks, and getting takeout from independent restaurants have been the highlights of our week, along with the IG live battles that artist have been doing. Did y’all see the Neyo and Johnta one? If you’re a huge R&B fans like we are, it’s definitely worth watching. Also, for the sake of our own mental health we don’t watch the news. Shit’s depressing!
YESI + JOSHUA
Dallas, TX
Quarantine life is begging us to discover who we are without the steady flow of work or routine friendship meetups. Who are we without demands and expectations? As small business owners in the commercial film industry, there's no list of daily needs and requirements to keep us busy and we've just moved into a new apartment in the East Dallas region.
Joshua has never felt more eager to get his hands on something new and creative. The idea of not being able to make something with his mind and hands, unbearable. I, myself, have seen a fixation come over me. Constantly staring at a corner of the home with one hand on my hip and the other on my chin attached to a thinking face, dressing and re-imagining this new small space.
In truth, both gestures by Joshua and I reflect the way our lives were before however, it's not broken up by other things anymore.
Learning to welcome the breaks and distractions from our close ones has been a treasured feeling and I sincerely hope that somewhere in your life, someone is lifting you up if even in the smallest of ways.
We're looking forward to doing work with other creatives and businesses again. Even the simplest of pleasures like playing a card game with our family and running around with our niece and nephew sounds like a treat. Our life isn't only made up of our wants and desires, it's more like a beautifully woven web of connections tying us to one another. I pray that we can all do our part to stop the growth of this virus and get back to holding one another.
ANGELEE + EDDIE
Dallas, TX
Like we mentioned earlier, this idea came to mind very early in quarantine. But since we put off our own homework assignment, we get the benefit of having some perspective of being in quarantine for over two months now.
The first thing that comes to mind during our experience in quarantine is GRATITUDE. We are so thankful to have our health, each other, and the ability to work from home during this time.
From the very beginning, we’ve done our best to establish routines to help normalize this very abnormal situation. We’ve both been pretty busy with work, so while this time at home hasn’t been filled with the availability to develop new hobbies or skills, we’ve definitely found ourselves doing small things we wouldn’t otherwise be doing so routinely. Like most of you, we find ourselves cooking a lot more together, we go on early-evening walks together everyday to stretch our legs (reserving Tuesdays and Thursdays for jogs), and we play card games almost daily— all things we hope to carry on into life post-COVID.
Being in creative fields, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t feel the (self-imposed) pressure to exercise our creativity more frequently, but honestly, we’re really enjoying taking this time to rest and be productive in enjoyable ways. We’ve purged our closets, painted the front door and bathroom of our loft, and even prepared our space to enter into Apartment Therapy’s SmallCool contest. We’ve also really appreciated that this time has pushed us to connect with loved ones more than ever. Whether it’s a 3-hour long FaceTime with college friends or an IG Live DJ party with DJ Sober or Tony Schwa, we’ve actually connected with others in a major way. What this time (and this blog post) has shown us is that there really is no right/wrong way to use this time, so long as you are true/good to yourself and others.
