Isn't it weird how quickly life can change? In most cases you hear that phrase, ponder it for a moment then move on with your busy, unrelenting life. Well, right now on Planet Earth, every one of us (and we're talking a few billion folk), are pondering exactly how life has changed. An unimaginable crisis has hit us to the core - some more tragically affected than others. All of us, as a worldwide community, have had our lives turned upside down by a little virus stamping it's name on every corner of the globe, (except apparently Antarctica where no doubt it stuck it's fingers up and said, "no way - too bloody cold for me".
This virus came at us like a bullet train. Even as recently as a few weeks ago, we had jobs, we had appointments to keep, we had the kids at school, we went to the gym, we hopped on public transport, we flew interstate or overseas ... we had toilet paper for goodness sake. Then BAM! Hello Covid-19 - you little arsewipe. Or rather, you've made everyone go mad for arsewipe and now we have punch-ons at Woolies because we're all so panicked about not being able to wipe our bums like we used to.
Crazy isn't it?
It's so crazy, I have to stop and pinch myself every so often and ask, "is this really happening?". The comforting factor is that it's not just happening to me, it's happening to every single one of us. And I'm going to do my darndest to make the best out of this situation. I'm attempting to take every positive aspect out of this experience as I can.
This enormous tragedy unfolding worldwide is not lost on me - I watch way too much news and this is probably going to be the biggest news story of my lifetime. But I have a child. A child who is still lost in her own world of wonder and curiosity. Still believes in the magic of Easter, Christmas and the Tooth Fairy and still deserves the most wonderful innocence and simple joys of her childhood. She doesn't need to know the scale of this disaster, the death tallies or the fact that none of us know when life will return to normal. She knows that there's a thing called Coronavirus and that people get sick from it. She's not at school but we're still doing school work. We're still in contact with her little friends and we will maintain as much of her normality as we can.
What we are going to do is spend a whole bunch of time together. Time that has been handed to us on a silver platter. A golden platter. Time that can't be bought. Irreplaceable time that I've now got to be completely and whole-heartedly invested in my child. No rushing around for the forseeable future, no mad panic trying to get out the door for school, no worries about juggling work with childminding, no traffic to get stuck in, no running late for anything. Only 10 days ago I was chatting to a friend about how frazzled I was every morning and how I wished it wasn't so stressful. It appears I've unknowingly rubbed a Genie's belly.
We have the option to live a simple existence now. Unhurried, relaxed, calm, inspiring almost. A time for creativity. A time to ponder. A time to collect our thoughts. A time to reset and change our focus.
Without any other distractions in life, for they have been temporarily taken out of the equation, we now have the luxury of time. And that can't be a bad thing.
A simple existence was my goal when I first came to Heyfield .. it wasn't so bad but it seems better and easier in some ways now... calm, inspiring.. and time to really work out what you need ...
Leah you’ve put this so perfectly. We’ve been handed exactly what we needed, more time! Although I’m working from home it’s still not a huge chunk of my day, so I can still do all those things I’ve had no time to do. I have played board games and done crafts. I’m catching up on a tv show that I really enjoy, and messaging with friends about what we have gotten up to. Yes it can be lonely, but there’s no way we are alone when the whole world is in the same boat as us. I look forward to reading you next blog post.