I’ve hesitated writing about the past few years mostly because I get the feeling that most people want to put the pandemic behind them and move on with life. I get that. I’m mostly the same way, but I also know that it’s not that easy. It’s something that happened to us and is still happening. And, while we all seem to be back to the status quo can you honestly say you don’t get a little jumpy when someone near you coughs or sneezes? No? Maybe that’s just me.
So, I’m not going to talk much about the pandemic because while my experience with it has not been altogether pleasant, it didn’t have the same impact on me that it had on others.
What I do want to talk about is lockdown or a few simple things I learned during these times. In England, we spent roughly eight months in some form of lockdown. A great deal of that was in full lockdown which meant not leaving your home unless you needed groceries or for your daily exercise outside.
*Before I start let me acknowledge that these are MY experiences. Please don’t take anything I write as whining because I am well aware of how lucky and privileged I was in so many ways.
1. Lockdown is even difficult for introverts
As a self-proclaimed introvert, I figured that lockdown wouldn’t be so bad, especially since it was only going to last a couple of weeks (insert maniacal laughter). For the most part, it was. I’m quite comfortable being on my own. I have always spent an inordinate amount of time comfortably alone and in my own head so this forecasted short period of isolation would be cake.
That said, as we got deeper into lockdown and March became May and then June and we were still mostly in lockdown, I was longing to spend time with other humans. I longed to leave my neighbourhood and be among other Londoners and spend time with people I cared about. No big surprise, but it turns out that most humans need to be able to interact with other humans even if they are really good at being alone.
2. Nature is important
Before proceeding, let’s get something clear, I don’t consider myself an outdoorsy person. I don’t do sports or camping. I like going for walks but if that walk means carrying a backpack, making a fire and cooking or sleeping outside, I’m out.
With that in mind, one of the first things I thought about after being in full lockdown for a week (starting mid-March 2020) was that I wasn’t going to be able to see the Spring flowers. The Victoria Embankment Gardens always has a beautiful display of spring flowers, especially tulips and I was really sad that I wouldn’t be able to experience it that year.
The good news is, early on in the first lockdown (March through June-ish) the government allowed people to go outside once a day for exercise. I decided to take advantage of this and began to check out the area I had lived in for about a year but hadn’t really explored. I discovered the Horniman Gardens and was thrilled to see tulips, other flowers and beautiful trees in bloom. Talk about a mood lifter.
From that day forward, I took advantage of the government-sanctioned exercise outdoors. I got to know my neighbourhood more and actually started to appreciate that I lived in a pretty cool part of town. I also appreciated nature and being in it a bit more. Fresh(ish) air is important and seeing how nature tends to keep going despite the weirdness going on with us humans felt important. I still will not be going camping though. That’s still a hard no.
3. Audiobooks aren’t all that bad
There was a time, not too long ago, when I didn’t think that listening to audiobooks was a valid way to consume a book. It felt like cheating. Admittedly, it was a snobby way of thinking and I feel bad about it now. I had listened to some audiobooks in the past but only because they were being read by Benedict Cumberbatch. (Can you blame me?) I had an Audible subscription just so I could listen to recordings of the radio series Cabin Pressure.
That weird way of thinking took a permanent turn during lockdown. Suddenly, I was spending at least 30 minutes a day outside walking and needed something to listen to. I used to always listen to music while walking, but now I was turning more and more towards listening to books while on my daily jaunts.
I’ve listened to a lot of books in the past few years. I have listened to books that I probably wouldn’t pick up and read in their solid form. I’ve discovered authors I might not have gravitated towards if I hadn’t heard their words read by someone who put the effort in to get the voice(s) right. I’ve also consumed more non-fiction because of audiobooks. While I know someone like Barack Obama has a gift for the written word, I knew that listening to him read A Promised Land was going to be so much better than tackling it on my own.
If you are interested in a list of books I listened to recently, let me know in the comments or you can follow me on Goodreads where I faithfully record every book I read or listen to.
On My Mind 