Monday 1 June 2020

Lessons From Lockdown

Lockdown has stymied my habitual wake up sequence:

I'm breathing?      check

Cat's breathing?    check

Legs move...?        check

Arms move...?       check

Brain functions...? check

What day is it...?    ummmmm milk was delivered yesterday so it's either Tuesday or Saturday.   Haven't heard the weekend paper drop on the mat so it must be Tuesday.  Hold on that can't be right, Caroline helps me with the cleaning every Monday and she wasn't here yesterday so it can't be Tuesday.  Unless... OH NOOOOO i've lost Caroline, or have i lost the plot?  Perhaps the universe shuffled the cosmic pack during the night, maybe the universe has lost the plot!!! Don't panic you silly billy, it's nothing  preternatural, we are in lockdown, all the familiar parameters have changed and it will be necessary to find another way of figuring out where you are in the week, nothing that a strong pot of coffee won't fix. 
When my bizniz closed and early retirement was unceremoniously thrust upon me it quickly became clear that there needed to be Rules of Engagement if i weren't to become the isolated Crazy Cat Lady or at best  a total recluse peering out from a mountain of fur and books totally unaware of the month let alone the day.  Those rules  became a way of life that have finally become relevant for many of the inhabitants of this little island especially those who live alone. Would you indulge me if i share them with you and with those who find themselves shielded at home?

The dramatist in me utilised the  shop floor as a stage, a place to project personality alongside product, the customers an audience to be entertained, their emotional needs met alongside providing a service. Dressing for the occasion, while still retaining personal style, was the prelude to the first act.  It doesn't matter if the only contact you have with the world is via technology if you start the day by putting on clean clothes, brushing the hair, establishing your style then you are making a statement about your place in the grand opera of life. Whether it's a skirt, shirt, T Shirt or suit it's your armour, a carapace that makes a statement about who you are and how you want the universe to respond to you. And please don't kid yourself that if you are dressed from the waist up but wearing pyjama bottoms nobody will know on video chat, they might not but you will and it will affect your whole attitude and that will be picked up. 
The world may be on lockdown, your brain doesn't have to be. Emerging from a busy book shop where there were daily dealings with reps,  challenges from a quarrel of questioning teen volunteers, discerning what tomorrow's must buy would be, my brain was appreciative of a break from it's labours but soon lack of stimulus found me waking in the early hours planning world domination... my children became scared. Steps were taken. Crosswords in the kitchen, Scrabble in the work room, books in the bedroom with a dictionary to hand and of course the World Wide Web.  The internet is a tool, it wasn't created to be a games hub. We have the world's greatest minds a mere click away, any lack of knowledge can be sated, all angles covered in an instant, there is no excuse not to know...about ANYTHING.  Keep the neurons firing by being inquisitive, foster an enquiring mind, if you don't know the meaning of a word... look it up. Hear a new concept... learn more about it.  Feel bored... read something meaty.  If you aren't working from home this is an ideal opportunity to learn something new, for once you have all the time in the world use it wisely. 
Employment tends to impose a routine no matter how freelance you may be, remove that regime and, unless you are a very self motivated soul, sloth sidles in to fill the gap with aimless nothings.   After a week of sleeping till lunch time and watching movies till midnight i decided holidays were over and invested in an alarm clock which still rings at 8 every morning, though a cat is the next best thing.  At some point those of you unable to work from home will have to return, you really don't want to discover your body clock rebelling at the demands of forgotten early mornings and then spending the rest of the day in a fug like a stunned slug.  Us non workers can still benefit from a structure, it's too easy to let the moments drift into hours, the hours into days until time becomes meaningless.  Life is precious, we tend to not realise that until the days ahead of us are considerably less than those behind. 
Finally, but definitely not the least important, a dear friend encouraged me to embrace the importance of self nurturing in the absence of affirmation from colleagues.  Not self indulgence, not wallowing in the unfairness of being cocooned while others can venture out into the big outdoors but caring for yourself, nourishing your spirit, being gentle with yourself.  Sprinkle some humour and concern for others in there and you will find you are more resilient than you realised.  This is definitely the time to dig out Blackadder or any boxed set that makes you weep with laughter, if you have a pet spend time playing daft games and pampering her, if you are a praying/meditating type what a wonderful opportunity to deepen your walk.  Connect with friends, you might not be in the same air space as the people you care for but you can use the phone and chat about anything and everything EXCEPT the virus.
We don't know if our lives will ever go back to the way they were so make a conscious choice to create a new way of living and embrace it, it wont be the same but it can still be good if you focus on the positives.  Maybe now is the time to offer to foster for an animal rescue, start an online study course, pick up the hobby you put aside because of busyness, become a pen pal, learn to crochet, paint the bathroom, whatever makes your toes twitch with pleasure.   And when you are tempted to become despondent about all you have lost rejoice that you had those experiences because many have lived this lockdown life for a long time, some from a very young age.  allow yourself to dip into the memory bank and relive some of your adventures then create new ways for a new reality.