The Unveiling

In his 2008 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffett described the financial crisis which had just passed: "As the year progressed, a series of life-threatening problems within many of the world’s great financial institutions was unveiled." His choice of the word "unveiled" struck me from that first read, though I couldn't put my finger on why. Now, living through the modern Coronavirus pandemic, I think I finally understand it.

The world today is no different than it was a few months ago, but it did resolve itself to the present in one particular way - a relatively lethal, and quickly-propagating virus spread across the globe. It could've happened at any time and place, but the world has just unveiled to us that it will happen here and now.

For me, this has occurred with a peculiar backdrop:

1. At the beginning of March, we went to Arizona for Merry's work conference and a family vacation. I had kept up on the virus's spread and I knew we were cutting it close to travel when it might already have been spreading through the local population.
2. I planned to finish working in June of this year, by which time I expected to have both adequate money in my checking account and IRA to constitute a safety net. Now my real estate businesses are in distress (tenants aren't paying rent) and my IRA value has collapsed, making this unviable.
3. Now, due to the virus, all our travel plans have been put off and we necessarily spend almost all of our time at home. Merry and I both work from home and Signe's daycare is closed.

There are many silver linings, though:

1. Though Signe being home while we have to work is a logistical nightmare, it is also "immersion therapy" for a degree of accountability to my family that I had avoided for the past three years.
2. I get to spend lots of time with Signe every day, as her language and imagination are quickly developing.
3. Going nowhere and without daycare expenses, we spend almost no money.
4. My habits are strongly-formed, and anything that pushes me out of them is probably a long-term benefit. To give two examples: my drinking has decreased to almost zero, and I have cut out buying many things that had grown habitual.
5. Much of this is a glimpse into what a post-work life could be like, before I choose to go through with it.

When I look out the window in this new world just unveiled, I see something quite different than before. I see a world in which travel is impossible - indeed, much of the outdoors are literally off limits - and quitting work is financially infeasible. The world didn't change - before & after photographs out that same window would be indistinguishable - this unveiling has simply occurred with ruthless speed, along an axis I of which I had never conceived, and I stand disbelieving the sight before my eyes.