Sarah Steele
@ssteeley with one of her four chickens in her tropical-themed RV airbnb (available now!).
-Theatre-
The funny thing is, Sarah wasn’t the first person I had interviewed that day with a chicken.
I talked with Sarah in her renovated camper in her back yard that she uses as an Airbnb. It is adorable and light and cozy. She is an excellent host and we caught up super cheerfully, which was so needed in all of this.
We kept talking after the recording was done, and it feels to me like she is handling quarantine the best out of all the people I’ve talked to because she is listening to her instincts. She is doing what makes her happy and I really need to start taking lessons from her. All of us do.
Interviewed 6.25.20
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Casey: So first and foremost, how are you?
Sarah: I'm good. It changes, like some days I feel pretty lost like a lot of people right now. I think for a long time I was holding on to—oh, you know, we just have to be patient. For some reason I was saying, "Things will go back to normal." But, you know, we don't want that. So I think, honestly, yesterday was a huge turning point. I remember I was screaming at Avery. I was like, "Things are not going back to normal! Everything is changing." But I think good things are happening, as you know. And it's okay. I think it was natural for me to want to think like, "Oh, you know, once this is over, I'll go back to my jobs, and we'll all have plenty to talk about."
I think yesterday I came to a point where I realized I may not go back to some of the jobs that I had before, and I might, but I don't know. So I'm just keeping all the possibilities open and trying to figure out ways that I can work on things right now that are going to benefit me in a couple of months or next year … It's been so amazing to see how well other people have adapted. I definitely think I've struggled to find what my purpose is right now. You know, with everything going on in the world right now, how can I help? What can I do? Who can I support? And I think, you know, for me, it's been a lot of personal support for friends and having conversations with families.
Casey: How has your family been holding up?
Sarah: Last week my mom was exposed to Covid ... She has very, very debilitating asthma … And we all went and got tested because we were all—I've seen my parents more than I have in ten years. So I have been using this time to make memories with my parents, like we quarantined hard those first two months … I've been hanging out with my parents for the past like six weekends straight because I don't know when that's gonna happen. You know, I'm not gonna be able to have that time again. So, yeah, my family's good. We don't have Covid. Very thankful.
Casey: So the tests came back and they were negative?
Sarah: Yes. We all got ours about the same day. It was really easy to get.
Casey: How's that nasal swab?
Sarah: Honestly, oh my gosh. I kinda liked it, but I'm probably the only person that would ever say that.
Casey: What have you been doing in quarantine? Obviously, you got some chickens.
Sarah: I did buy chickens. I've always wanted chickens. I love animals so much. I love raising animals. I got them like really little, little babies. They were a day old. I also want their eggs, too, because I try and be as like—I know a lot about the chicken industry, kind of growing up around it. And so the chickens that I got are the ISA brown chickens. In factory farms, they lay a lot of eggs, but because they're overproduced, their lifespan is five years, but they really only get used for two years. So anywho, my chickens, when they stop laying eggs, will have a happy retirement. I got chickens and that honestly, it was really therapeutic for me because when you asked me like how I am, I'm good now, but in the beginning of this—anytime I ever go through a job change or anything stressful in my life, it always comes out in my dreams. I was having panic attacks in my sleep, which I've never had before. So I was waking up with like sleep paralysis, and heart racing, and stuff like that. probably should've just gotten some therapy, but I opted for chickens. But it did give me purpose.
Casey: It's probably cheaper.
Sarah: Yeah, very much. I joke and say, like, "All four of my chickens cost less than two Chick-fil-A sandwiches." Chickens are very cheap. A lot of people don't know that. They're like a couple dollars a piece. Yeah. So I got the chickens. I've done, like many other people, I've done a lot of yard work, sort of. A little bit of gardening. Some things are half-assed. I half-assed a garden, and then I got chickens. Just trying to find projects in terms of creating spaces. That's what I like to do. Even the chicken coop is like it's own creative space. You know, I made them a swing, I made them a sand pit because they like sand.
Casey: Are you creating at all right now?
Sarah: I would say not really. I'm journaling a lot, mostly just on my phone, like if I start thinking about, "Oh, like, this would be cool. This would be a good project." A lot of the things I want to do, I don't see how they can be done right now. Honestly, I'm just taking this time to learn about as much as I can. For example, I really enjoy being an Airbnb host. I really enjoy creating comfortable, and funny, weird, quirky spaces. Because I love meeting people that, you know, have a great time and we keep our prices affordable. And that's another thing, I'm typically on a tighter budget than, you know, a lot of people. So I love finding cool Airbnb spaces that are reasonably priced. And so one of my next projects, I really want to buy a piece of land and build, you know, I don't know if you've ever seen there's like an Atlanta tree house that kind of does this? I think they function also as an Airbnb. When I found that, I was like, "That's exactly what I want to do." I want to create and also I'm very outdoorsy.
Casey: I mean, this is perfect.
Sarah: Oh, thank you. I also love sharing it with my friends. That's another thing—I love being a host. I think that has a lot to do with my purpose as a human being. is to create soft places for my friends and other people to land because life is hard.
Casey: Obviously, we miss theatre. Obviously, we miss our friends, but I'm wondering if there's anything you discovered that you miss that kind of surprised you?
Sarah: I guess hugging. I mean, a lot of people have said this, but hugging people, that closeness. I miss not being afraid to hug people. It's funny because it reminds me of my time—I did an internship in Belgium in college. You know, in France, it's funny, they don't hug. In Belgium, as well, they don't hug. They think it's gross because you're pressing your body against each other. But they'll kiss you on the face multiple times. And I remember being homesick and desperately wanting a hug … So I already knew what it felt like to go without hugging someone, but I never ever thought I would be afraid to hug someone, that there would be a risk, such a crazy risk.
Casey: Do you think that you'll ever approach people and just fling yourself into their arms, or do you think there will always be a fear?
Sarah: I don't know. I want to say yes, that I want to have hope that—absolutely. This is something that's, I'm not saying it's just going to go away, but eventually, maybe not as fast as we want it to. Once I got tested for Covid and knew I didn't have it, it's funny, I saw some friends over the weekend. We've kept our circle small and I mean, I just flung. And I was just like, "Please, I'm going to hug you." But the thing is, you know, technically, I guess they could have had it. It's like I will risk my health to love you. I know that sounds really dramatic, but I'm like, "I know I can't give it to you now, but who cares about me? I just want to express my love for you." So I really hope so. I really hope that one day this will kind of all be like, "Can you believe freaking 2020?”
Casey: What do you think you will take out of this? What will you be able to tell your kids about this time?
Sarah: It's a good and a bad thing, right? There's been so many good things that have happened. I could go on and on. I won't, but I have so many stories and there's so many other people's stories where quarantine and the shut down was a blessing. It changed their lives. It was a blessing. And it's incredibly sad that people are still getting sick. It's a horrible, horrible virus. This is a time I feel like in history that you can look at it as, you know, the worst time in history or you can look at it—it's kind of been a gift for some.
Honestly, too, with what's going on right now with the Black Lives Matter movement, and also just seeing multiple injustices being called out across the board, I don't know if it wasn't for quarantine, if we would have had the collective energy and mental space to do the work that I've seen so many people doing. So I see it in that regard a blessing because it's like we got to take a pause, and look around, and see things for what they really are, and also try and decide what we're actually seeing. I would tell them it was a horrible thing, but it was also a blessing in many ways, you know?
