On the subject of live as I know it now being unrecognizable to the person I was a week or two ago, I’ve been thinking about things that feel useless but used to feel essential.

Makeup. I don’t see a point to putting on mascara or lipstick to walk around my apartment. And for all those video calls, I hear Zoom has a “touch up my appearance feature” anyways.
Haircuts. My hair stylist is a friend who I adore, and she’s terrific. In the past, I’ve been a combo of too lazy and too frugal to go as often as I should. Two weeks ago, when all we were discussing as a nation was how to spend 20 seconds lathering your hands with soap for washing, I considered going in for a pixie cut to help me remember not to touch my face. I look back on my ideas in the not-so-distant-past, and feel embarrassed for their shortsighted lack of understanding of what was to come. When you are ordered to shelter at home, salons close. Keeping up a short cut is difficult. Maybe my hair is going to be an unruly, unstyled mess for the next several weeks or months, but hey, let’s see what that Zoom “touch me up” feature really does. And heads up to all the post-apocalyptic tv and movie producers: a more realistic choice is for everyone’s hair to be long, undyed, and perhaps dreaded. I hope my stylist friend will be flooded with paying business at the end of this, and I may get that pixie cut when the time comes. But for now, I’d rather not have my husband touch up my hair with dull scissors.
Not making the bed. I’ve always been a bit lazy with that habit, so while I love a freshly made bed, I rarely do it or mind when it doesn’t happen. Now it seems crucial to daily life. To bring structure to the day. To make my home-now-also-office feel worthy of the day.

I’m sure I’ll think of more. What have you found to be a little pointless in life on lockdown?