During lockdown I wanted to keep my mind busy with learning. I need not have worried that I’d be bored since I still had a demanding full-time job, but gaps did start to open up where I would previously be out and about. In those new hours was a chance to explore personal interests. One of these was an online course on The Science of … Continue reading The science of happiness
It has been impossible not to lately. The death of George Floyd in the US after a police officer knelt on his neck was the catalyst for widespread protests. It shocked us out of our Coronavirus news coma. Black Lives Matter demonstrations happened all over the UK, reminding us that this is both an international and a local problem that we need to address. We … Continue reading Thinking about race
As lockdown starts to ease across the UK, spending time with other people is coming back into the realms of possibility. I’ve been angry, perplexed and at times despairing at how the Government advice has never addressed the mental health aspects of remaining isolated or socially distant from all others. Too often it seemed the face of power was a middle-aged white man in some … Continue reading People are more than 2D
As we enter week 7 (8?) of lockdown in London, it strikes me that my life now has similarities with caravan holidays from my youth.Back before I’d ever been on a plane, Summer holidays were taken in Devon. It was roughly a 5 hour drive from Stoke-on-Trent where I grew up, punctuated by an overnight stay in Bristol to visit my grandparents. I remember the … Continue reading Caravans
What I’ve learned from living by myself during the pandemic and lockdown SO FAR: 1. Stock the fridge It’s a funny thing going from being in a relationship and living together for a long time to living solo. On one hand, you get freed up from an awful lot of responsibility and on the other, you gain sole responsibility for everything. I love cooking, but … Continue reading Lockdown lessons
There has been a lot of talk of when and if things will go back to normal. I find myself questioning normal. It seems a narrow way to live at the best of times. The pursuit of normal may be unhelpful. Before the pandemic, I got on the underground train most days for work. I’ve been doing that one way or another for 17 years, … Continue reading What is normal?
Eventually there had to be some kind of upside to Coronavirus lockdown, the stay at home sentence which bans spending time with anyone outside of your household or going out for non-essential reasons. The mental health challenges are obvious. We put all plans on hold. We have to process the grief of everything being turned upside down. We are lonely and miss people. But I … Continue reading The neighbourhood is back
Lots of the time I imagine myself as a character in a film. I’m pretty sure this is how I got through high school. The awkward, pale, silent girl was narrating a much more exciting story in her head. But now each morning I wake up and feel like I’m in a bad film. Maybe it’s a B movie, a straight to video (DVD?) release. … Continue reading Waking up in a bad film
Hell is other people. We’ve all thought it, whether crushed by a backpack on a train carriage or hiding from a rowdy stag do in a bar. But now, under the Coronavirus crisis we are told to stay at home. Don’t go out because you might come into contact with other people. Stay distant. And now, other people are needed. We want to talk. We … Continue reading Communities of chaos
I know I’m not alone. The past few weeks have seen us all go from worrying about the daily minutiae – what’s for dinner tonight, have I paid that bill, should I book a holiday – to being overwhelmed and engulfed by the global Coronavirus pandemic. It confirms my belief that there is always a list of worries and we simply prioritise them according to … Continue reading Little and big worries
