Hey!
I am sitting in my apartment right now.
A week ago I was getting ready to head to the UK from my home in Finland. We booked a trip many months ago to go and see some football (aka soccer), my beloved’s other love, Aston Villa.
You can see where this is going, right?! Trip: cancelled. Football: cancelled. Whole country: in lockdown. Whole world: in lockdown.
On Tuesday 17th March, only a few days ago (really?!), the Finnish Government declared a state of emergency that would take effect from the 18th March. This means closing all schools, all places that are considered non-essential (libraries*, museums, places where groups of people usually gather), limits on how many can gather (no more than 10), and start social distancing (like Finns don’t do that already!). [*libraries - in what way are they non-essential in a time like this??!!]
So what started as a fun March has turned into a…well…WTF March?! I mean… what has happened?! 2020 started with a bloody great big burning inferno anyway, in my homeland, Australia. And then floods. Now a global pandemic.
Whole countries are in lockdown. People socially distancing. People panic buying toilet paper (really?! Of all the things to panic buy?!)
My place of work is closed for a month: it’s a museum.
So what to do? How to cope? What will I do differently?
Write: this will continue as normal. I will write every day, post it on Medium, write some poetry for some other projects, start planning/writing a story/book that’s been in my head for a while, do some more poetry sculpture, perhaps do some collaborations?
Read: I ran to the library the day before it closed. Okay. I tell a lie. I walked fast. My knees aren’t what they used to be! But I plan to read a whole pile of books. I’ll be spending a few hours a day reading on Medium too, supporting my fellow writers in lockdown. Check my February reads out and a piece on books that have made a huge impact on my life.
Yoga: I am not the most flexible of people. About a month ago I started up yoga again after having a frozen shoulder. I do it every day. I’ll continue this. Hopefully, I’ll be a little more flexible by April! It also gives me 30 minutes or so of almost meditative focus. It helps my little grey cells (thanks, Hercule Poirot!)
Cook: I love cooking. I recently embarked on the whole sourdough thing and have my own starter now so I will be baking some sourdough bread, amongst other things. I will probably do a few batches of bone broth. So good! And freezable. Adding a few cubes of it to any sauce adds so much flavour. If you’ve never had FatHead pizza I highly recommend it. The dough contains no wheat - just cheese, almond meal, and eggs. Check it out on Pinterest (or here).
Slow down: I have actually done that in my life anyway. I now live in a small town, not the big city I was living in for years. I don’t commute (gone from up to an hour to 3 minutes). This is a chance to reflect, to read, to think about what’s important. To connect with others in different ways.
Watch live streams and stream music: I found out Melissa Ethridge had done a live stream of her playing and singing. It was lovely! just a few songs. There are artists all over the place who are doing the same. The hashtag #lockdowngetdown encourages you to stream your favourite music non-stop, create playlists to share and follow others, hopefully with paid subscriptions, so musicians get some money outside of their cancelled gigs. A great Aussie writer and feminist, Clementine Ford, has been reading live on Instagram. Today she read in front of a pretend fireplace (her TV running the Netflix fireplace show — yes, it’s real!). So many fun and creative people who you can interact with/watch live.
Learn a new skill: I am fairly certain this will be crochet, but at this stage, it could be anything! I like a challenge and learning a new skill is always good. You could always learn a new language, or how to cook a new dish, but there are so many YouTube tutorials and other platforms that can teach something new.
The reality of this virus means I may not be able to see my family in Australia this year. My sister and husband have booked to visit in June but they may have to postpone due to travel restrictions. We have planned to visit Australia in October/November and I am crossing all flexible body parts that things have calmed down a bit by then and we can travel.
But who knows?
It’s the uncertainty that is difficult to cope with, which is why focusing on daily tasks and small things can help with feeling overwhelmed, most of which is, quite simply, out of our control. It takes control back and focuses your thoughts on something productive or pleasurable.
That’s the plan anyway. It’s early days. But we are all in this together and are but a message away! (thanks, technology!)
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
By the way - I have managed to finish three books this week (thanks, state of emergency) Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - just loved it! The Daylight Gate bu Jeanette Winterson - an enjoyable thriller from Shakespearean times based on real events, and Swimming Sweet Arrow by Maureen Gibbon - follows a period of time in the life of a young woman, between leaving school and becoming an adult. Sexually explicit, it reminds me of Puberty Blues and is worth reading.
Stay positive! And thanks for reading!
Lisa x
[EMERGENCY SUPPLIES: I might have also stocked the fridge with a few different stouts! Very yummy!]