It’s hard to stay brave when you are protected constantly. Your resolve is never challenged much when you are shielded in lockdown. Being shielded means not leaving the house to go to shops etc. You can have a very limited bubble of contact.
When shielded, help is offered. Councils provide food parcels, I am on the vulnerable register so I can get supermarket slots etc, however luckily I have a housemate and best friend who can take care of that. Take care of most things.
I’m cocooned in my home. However, I have hobbies, cats and work preparation I could be doing. I have the opportunity to try new things, like online dating on lockdown or baking.
If anyone asked what I did during lockdown I can see the books I’ve read, the crochet projects I finished, the mandalas I coloured, the texts and videos I covered for my continuing professional development and the all important pictures I took of food I prepared.
However, mentally I’ve learned to adapt. There are things I can face with serenity. There are things I learned about myself that I did not like and those are things I can meditate on, as I also enrolled in a 10 week meditation course online.
Lockdown for me was about ups and downs, as I’m sure it was for many others. It’s difficult to adapt well when your world suddenly changes. It feels like life has been cancelled and then we fall out of practice for the things that keep us well.
Maybe lockdown for you was different. Maybe you could do this all for another 20 weeks. That is resilience but it’s tempered strength to get back to life gradually with all the changes we will have to implement.
Lockdown was a great win for the environment; less traffic. Many improvements have happened on a local level. It’s been a challenge for businesses. It’s been a challenge for individuals in every walk of life. Not seeing loved ones has been a blessing and/or curse. However, I think more than anything else it’s brought to light who we would like to spend time with.
As the song goes, “it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day…” and if you think about it, it really is a new era for everyone.
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