The tree outside my window provides me with a daily reminder of which season we are currently in.
The first photograph depicts an early morning in January when the sun barely lifts above the horizon to present a purple hazy backdrop to a stark, naked London plane.
Moving on by four months and the same tree looks like it’s moved into a different place, it’s full of green leaves, it provides shade for the gardens and home for the birds.
The sun is not behind it even though it’s early dawn, and it stands fully clothed in a new garment for a new season.
As I reflect on my tree I am prompted to consider how life has changed since the first picture in January to now in the last day of May.
Back in January 2020 the world was just hearing about the coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan, China and we couldn’t quite understand how it would affect us in the UK. A mounting concern arose throughout February but only early March did we get proactive and stock pile toilet rolls and wipe the supermarket shelves bare.
How life has changed from then until now….I was fortunate enough to be able to getaway in mid February to the Canary Islands just as the Coronavirus was effecting Tenerife and we were in Fuetaventura without any incidents there. I remember thinking I just want them to let us home so we don’t have to quarantine for two weeks on a sunny, beach resort island ! I had work to do and people to see back home.
How quickly that all changed, I perhaps should have waited for the enforced quarantine in the sun ! (Never)!
After what seems like weeks of lockdown, no haircuts, no family get togethers, no shopping trips or art gallery visits, no cafe or pub or fave restaurant, we are emerging , some already emerged fully back to normal.work, life, hours, stress, driving, trains etc….
Some still reticent, taking the emergence slowly, like mole emerging out of his hole in the spring. Some folks are syruptitiously making tiny steps to test out the new land where coronavirus still lives and we don’t know where we may find Covid at the next corner or if indeed it will find us in an unsuspecting moment when we’re not staying alert or when we’re testing out our eye sight driving around for miles visiting Castles and places of interest.
Have we emerged wiser, more thoughtful, grateful people or judging from my recent experience have we emerged more cautious, stressed, anxious, some are aggressive, militant, frightened or for some they throw caution to wind and party like it’s going out of style.
The new local problem in my park since the pub has opened for takeaway beer, pizza and burgers is that many people are sitting in the park drinking, eating and there’s no loos open, so you can guess the new topic of conversation in East London…..peeing in the bushes and worse…
Reflections…..Ive thought about myself and this change of pandemic on my life. My air to caution but also my willingness to bend a rule when I feel it’s necessary or the obsession with door handle cleaning that’s dissipated over the weeks. I find that I quite enjoy the retreat back into my little safe space, my secure base, my creative space where thoughts and ideas emerge or where paint and crayons are commissioned or words are processed or read and workshops, webinars and counselling practice on zoom take up my daily routine.
What will I miss about it all ?not hurrying, not having the choice to be anywhere or the demands of timetable apart from getting to the supermarket queue in good time.
How different am I now ? What activities can go back into my life and which ones can stay out ?
Will it be hurriedness, taking in a new slow life pace ( which is an actual new movement emerging)
What will that look like ? If I don’t fit as much in during a day? Will life itself let me? Or will we all become people who can pull up the drawbridge and say I’m.having a duvet day today the new way of living is too much for my nervous system.
Give me a break, not at the beach or at the theatre but just in my own little space, my four walls until I feel able to venture out again in to the new normal, perhaps the One change we should all adopt is to be able to bunker up and say No to the demands of a 24/7 society and say ‘see you in a few days’ I’m on a retreat in my living room, watching Netflix and ordering home delivered pizza.(Many do this already it’s a Millenial / Gen X privilege !) Not a Boomer activity were too busy visitjng garden centres and restoring classic cars or walking on coastal paths for duvet days, but I think it’s a worwhile activity to incorporate and I will try it myself ..perhaps says she nervously with FOMO and the niggling voice saying youve got jobs to do …ppl to see…dissertation to be researched …so for now in our new normal we thank God were alive and kicking on a daily basis. So……
See you on the other side of this pandemic, whatever the other side looks like I hope we can build a kinder, more sustainable, ecological world. Where kindness, courage and hope are part of our everyday experiences and we can appreciate one another for our contributions whether they be big or small, amazing or functionally normal. As they keep telling us Were all in this together!
Stay safe my friends, be strong, keep.well.
Take away your new normal and choose what you add or subtract from it, it’s your life, your choice, your journey, choose wisely, as the Knights Templar said to Indiana Jones as he surveyed the cup of the Holy grail! Choose wisely my friend.
From one pearl to another
Mags Lewis 31/5/2020
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Pearls for the journey 