Today was a weird day. I have been avoiding a media phone call for about a week (yikes!). It was a call that wanted to know my opinion about the impact on this round of lockdown here in Sydney. What was I avoiding? Giving a different perspective I guess. I just think that if someone is going to take the time to read (or hear) something I have to say, I owe it to them to dig deeper than what they can google themselves. After yet another email from the media source, I was now feeling horribly unprofessional. There’s a standard for responding right?
You know, I also just get tired about the debate and opinion that happens in the public space. In a situation like this, I am not just giving my opinion, I am also exposing my own vulnerability to the lockdown. Would I say things that I don’t really mean? Would I say things that are not realistic? I would not want to do that.
So when the phone call came, I said these things….and when I had finished, I realised that it was about hugging a mental and emotional hot chocolate in one of those huggable mugs. You know the one I mean? Here’s some of what I said, and a bit more….and as I am typing this, picture me in a beanie (with a pom pom of course), with fluffy slippers, and a cool playlist of old time jazz…
1. Keep it light. Introduce laughter in your day where you can.
2. We are extremely tired with the digital platform, pace it out, it is the way to stay connected, and connected is what we need. In small doses, the sight of a friendly face. The crinkle in someone’s nose as they laugh. That familiar twinkle in their eye. You can’t get that from a text message
3. Focus on the altruistic and giving position. Yes I get extremely disturbed by the cavalier attitude towards masks and lockdown. Equally I can focus on doing my part for the sake of others. I can also look for the opportunities to pass on the hope of those who are doing what we need to do to keep others safe
4. Keep the sound and sight of nature in full view. Does not need to mean a walk. Put on a playlist with nature sounds. Bring the family pets and plants indoor. Sit alongside those windows as often as you can
5. Don’t knock yourself about for those feelings of boredom, restlessness, discouragement. It’s normal, you’re normal
6. If you are living on your own, feel free to remind people of that reality. Let the people you know, love and trust, how you are really doing
7. Check in on your friends and family who are living alone.
8. Smile. Plant a picture of the things that make you smile. And smile
9. Warm your home with the smells and warmth of anything that brings back fond memories.
10. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are not up for the full blown exercising. Sway, skip, stretch, move in the way you feel you can.
It’s time for me to warm the home with a chicken in the oven, and what my children claim to be my best dish. Apparently I could win MasterChef with my “Moosh”. I make the best “Moosh”. What is it? I asked them that one day, always assuming they meant “Mash”. Nope. Apparently it is this thing I do by “mooshing” any and every leftover into mash potato.
