RETURNING TO NORMALITY

It is incredible that we have now passed 100 days in lockdown. We have hunkered down in the relative security and safety of the nest. People generally have tried to abide by the restrictions, although at times it has seemed a very alien and strange world. Now we are starting to ease out of lockdown, I have begun to reflect on the whole experience.

I have heard a number of people say that they could continue to live quite happily in lockdown, and I can relate to that feeling. Like little chicks in the nest, we have felt safe at home, protected from the outside world with its threats and pressures, known and unknown. For many, the pace of life has slowed down, with far less commuting and no unnecessary travel. We have had to be inventive and creative, returning often to the simpler aspects of life..

Lockdown has brought with it the benefits of reassessing our priorities in life. What is more important: Possessions or people? Holidays or home? For me, it has highlighted that we should value our loved ones above all else. They are very precious. Life is short, and can change in an instant. It is all too easy to find ourselves becoming caught up in a search for an elusive happiness which always seems to lurk just out of reach. Instead, we should see that happiness is already within our grasp: in the simple enjoyments of life, in the people we love, in our daily life.

So as we tentatively emerge from our nests, we face a different world: one where we must wear masks, distance ourselves from others, be vigilant of the menacing virus lurking in the background. Inevitably, we will emerge a little more wary, but hopefully too, a good deal wiser.