Saving You From Yourself

4/23/2020

(Not a post about wearing masks!)

So here we are in the thick of the pandemic. I hope you are all well and safe, whether you're sheltering in place or required to go out in the world as an essential worker. This experience has been difficult in different ways for all of us. Some are stressed about their finances (lost jobs, closed businesses, and more). Some are worried about their health or the health of a loved one. Others are bored out of their minds, or crawling up the walls wishing they could get away from their housemates or out to see friends. And of course, some are using extra time to learn new things, create, plant gardens, paint, bake, and read. Many of us are feeling a little bit of all of the above.

I've been social distancing since March 7--no travel, no visiting with family or friends, no restaurants, no photoshoots in my studio. Although I've had more time at home than usual, my day job in communications for the Federal government is busier than it's ever been. So I haven't felt like I've had "extra" time. I haven't been diligently applying the Mari Kondo method to every room, closet, and drawer in my home. But I have been on a lot of Zoom video calls to stay connected to family and friends, and I recently learned this magical trick: VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS.

If you're like me and perhaps want to keep your mess to yourself, you can turn on "virtual backgrounds" in Zoom and hide the real world from the people you connect with virtually.

Virtual backgrounds allow you to go from this:

To this:

(Look how tidy my house is!)

So just in case you want to spend some (virtual) time in a KonMari-ed, uncluttered space designed by professional decorators and adorned with photos by yours truly, I've got a fun, free download for you. There are seven backgrounds to choose from, each featuring one or more of my photos hanging on the walls, all free for you to use whenever you need to protect yourself (or your meeting participants) from whatever mess is in your world.

Need help turning on virtual background? Zoom has all the information you need, and lists the system requirements and steps for any device you might be using. But the basics are this: on Zoom desktop, click on the arrow next to the "Stop Video" icon at the bottom left in your meeting screen. Select "Choose Virtual Background..." Then you can upload any of the free virtual backgrounds I created for you. It does work best if you don't have TOO much clutter and distractions in your real-life background—the camera isn't super smart when it comes to figuring out what is YOU and what is the background you need to hide.