Maureen Anderson is one of my favorite people and someone I always look forward to speaking to – with any excuse.  She’s a star in the radio galaxy, and she’s interviewed me on her shows on the subject of communication a number of times.  The pandemic seemed like a good excuse to turn the tables and interview her.  I asked her to do my vlog, #JustOneQuestion, but she demurred.  So we’re talking this way and I am grateful.

Nick:  First, a quick check-in. How are you doing?

Maureen:  Except for some anxiety when getting groceries, things are exactly the same. My husband, Darrell, and I have been writing and producing radio programs from home for twenty-five years. So the most interesting part of the pandemic is watching people adjust to the way we’ve been living since we got married.

Nick: What have you learned from this switch all around you to the virtual?

Maureen:  This comes from, again, watching people adjust to working from home together while raising a family. It took us many years — we’re talking at least ten — to feel like we were getting good at it. So the first thing I’d suggest is to please go easy on yourself if you’ve only been doing this since March. There’s a long learning curve, or there can be.

As I watch people wrestle with all the uncertainty, I realize I’ve always worried about an uncertain future. I can’t blame that on the pandemic. As you know, Nick, being self-employed is a roller coaster and there’s a lot of anxiety. But again, I can’t blame that on the pandemic.

Especially in the beginning, when people were divided into “essential” and “nonessential,” I worried that what I do is not all that essential. But you guessed it. I can’t blame that on the pandemic, either. I’ve always wondered what I’m playing at. Which is a shame because from what I hear it’s the work of writers and artists and podcasters and so on who are keeping people sane and inspired, who are providing a respite from the scary. Ironically, it’s easier to make the case for work like mine being essential after all.

Nick:  Essential or not, isolation is hard on humans. What are you doing to cope with all the changes 2020 has brought us?

Maureen: The supposedly seismic change is just another lens that’s showing us who we are. And what I see happening is more self-awareness, because in the absence of a commute — to use only one example — there’s finally time for reflection.

On a more practical level, there’s something magical about having somewhere to be that isn’t just a different room in your apartment or your house. There’s something critical about finding ways to make one day different from the next. I’m not sure I realized how relentlessly monotonous the days could be until other people started complaining about that, so I’ve made a bigger point of stopping work at a certain time every day and immersing myself in books and documentaries and even music videos. Anything for a little treat.

Nick:  What’s one thing you’ve tried to change that has worked? 

Maureen:  In such a controlled situation, with so little changing in what amounts to a laboratory setting, I’ve used the opportunity to experiment with new ways of being. I was stunned to learn how much more energy I had by switching to consistent bedtime and wakeup times, for starters. It’s been on the order of giving up sugar, that’s how much better I suddenly feel. You don’t have to write a bestselling novel with the extra time. Just take the opportunity to do one thing better, and that might change everything.

Nick:  And what has been the hardest thing you’ve had to deal with? 

Maureen:  The most difficult part of the pandemic, for me, has been coming to terms with my age. I don’t feel 62. I probably don’t look 62, but I definitely don’t look on video the way I look in this photo — which is from only a few years ago. But it was taken by a professional photographer after I’d had my hair and makeup done by a professional, and it’s a testament to the magic of good lighting. I got into radio because it leaves more to the imagination than television, and because my longevity wouldn’t depend on looking young. Only to find myself in 2020 where everyone who’s anyone has a YouTube channel.

The goal was to have a video setup that would make me look presentable in time for your #JustOneQuestion series, Nick. But we’re in the process of moving from Minnesota to New York and it just…wasn’t going to happen. So thanks very much for letting me bend the rules a little bit and still join you this way!

Nick:  Thank you, Maureen!  Stay sane!