So I am certain that there are few places on the planet who have not experienced some form of lockdown now. In many places the restrictions are being gradually lifted.
We have all faced some upheaval in our lives found disturbances to our daily lives that would have been extremely hard to foresee or indeed even to comprehend one short year ago...
This has caused me to think quite deeply of late about just what those differences have meant to us and which ones have been the most difficult to bear. I am sure I am far from alone in this, I am sure you yourself have contemplated what these changes have meant in your life and what exactly they mean to you...
Many of my posts of late have been typically long and verbose, I admit I am a man who loves words and seems to find endless ways to use far more than are ever really necessary. So I made a decision to make a far more simple post today, a post that is not so deep and complex to read, one that is far simpler to comprehend than most I write. Yup I know they can be hard going but if you know me you will know that I need to see an idea or a topic through to it's conclusion and cover all the potential angles and at times I even play 'Devil's advocate' and consider the opposing view to the topic at hand. Sometimes delving deep and writing several thousand words to get to a natural conclusion.
So I have chosen this time round to compose a fairly simple 'question post' something that makes engagement incredibly easy as I love to hit the comments section and really thrash out ideas with those people who are fabulous enough to share their thoughts.
So! Back to the topic at hand. LOCKDOWN - How has it affected you?
More to the point, what have you missed most of all? What I am REALLY asking is once things return to whatever form of normal they take, what is the One thing you cannot wait to do or experience again?
My Daughters both keep mentioning the fast food chain McDonald's and how they cannot wait to be able to hit the restaurant again. I use the term 'restaurant' loosely as I do not even view it as such. This got me thinking about the things we have always just 'taken for granted' that have been unavailable to us for the last few months.
I am a part of several communities on Discord and have asked this question a lot recently as I really want to understand which upheavals have been the toughest to bear. One good friend said she just wanted to hug her Dad again, who can argue with such an answer? Obviously Mum, Dad, Sister, Brother and children is an answer that has been repeated a lot, understandably.
But! There have been far more abstract answers that the question has drawn forth some of them have absolutely fascinated me.
One friend stated that she could not obtain the usual art supplies that she would normally have at hand and that the very instant lockdown is lifted and the shops re-opened that was her first destination. Another friend mentioned surfing, it was his way of unwinding from a very high power job and has been a notable absence from his life. Yet another of my friends has missed golf incredibly... I gotta be honest I understand his despair but when it comes to that 'so-called' sport I subscribe to the view of American novelist Harry Leon Wilson ((Not Mark Twain as the quote is usually attributed to)).
“Golf is a good walk spoiled.”
But who am I to decide what should and should not be important to folks who are under virtual house arrest? It is not always obvious which things will have the deepest impact on our spirit when they are denied, rationed or placed under a complete embargo.
My Youngest Daughter is missing the use of her gym membership, I have spoken to many who are of the same mind actually. I do not think it is the keeping in shape so much as the de-stressing effect and the escape from real life that the gym provides for most. I think many of our rituals and habits stem from very different psychological and cathartic needs than we may first imagine.
Consider those people who like nothing more than to browse around clothes shops, libraries and enjoy a coffee whilst watching the world go by in a street corner cafe...
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There is an element of connection with like minded people in many of these habitual pastimes even though it may not be immediately apparent. The elderly who perhaps live alone can often be seen sitting by the beach or in the park watching the children play, feeling a somewhat tenuous link to the outside world by observing it, being part of it. It is more than a little distressing to think of these people being stuck indoors every day... I can't help but get trapped in the moment thinking of the growing loneliness.
Or maybe it is something as simple as visiting friends, relatives and just being with those whom we identify with, this is quite something to be wrenched away overnight and for such an immensely drawn out period of time.
Life is filled with many activities, habits and rituals that we have, I am certain, almost sleepwalked through, not stopping to notice the nuances, emotions and feelings that they conjure up.
Maybe we will have all developed a new-found appreciation for the unremarkable events in our everyday lives. Perhaps there will be a fresh perspective, profound respect for all those intricacies that make up a day, a week, a human life?
I wonder how many people have also identified a myriad of things they do not want to waste time doing once this is over? I wonder if many have spotted costly, time-sucking, maybe even destructive pastimes that they realise were not at all what they appeared to be. Spending days at the bar, gambling, spending time with friends who they now realise are not even nice people. It makes you think, doesn't it?
There are many deep and profound things that have resonated with me throughout this period. Things that I realise were far more important to me than I suspected before all of this. There are many changes I wish to make due to my personal lockdown experience.
I have decided after working throughout lockdown that I want a completely new direction for my work-life, sadly the time I began to understand this was not a time to 'strike while the iron was hot' as the expression goes as the majority of potential new employers have obviously been closed. I am pleased to have formed a decision regarding this though as I intend to take a position that is far more rewarding, perhaps even fulfilling.
I also understand that even this new career, job, position is not for the long-term as I want to control my own destiny... More on this in up-coming posts I am certain!
Oops! I did it again ((Like Britney!!!)) I am sorry Dear Reader... I got carried away and the words flowed freely, all this after I promised to exercise brevity and slash the word-count.
So I will return to the original question I posed at the outset of this missive.
What Are You Most Looking Forward To when we emerge at the other side of this particular tunnel?
Please take a moment to let me know in the comment section I genuinely love engagement and the chance to cross paths with new and old friends alike.
I would like to take a moment to repeat something that I said in the comments section of a friend I met on the blockchain recently...
Finally and most importantly - When this is all over, whether it be 6 months or even 2 or 3 years there will be certain areas of society that have an inbuilt fear of getting too close. We must become connected again, socially, spiritually and for the most part, mentally. This cannot be a reason for people to become more disconnected from each other, we NEED to be closer, better connected, more optimistic for the future of our species both at a community and a global level.
On that note, let's all resolve to be a bright, optimistic part of the solution and never a part of the problem, because
Together we are just better!
