I write these words after two weeks of lockdown (well, I must confess that I have lost track of time and can’t distinguish between the different stages of quarantining we have been asked to comply with).
What I do know is that everyone is now a ‘home body’ and obsessing about domestics, which feels a bit like the lifestyle I have been following during my years as a freelancer.
Yes, that means ‘drip working’ on and off through out the day with little sense of when work stops and the rest of life starts. Domestic life intrudes noisily and unremittingly, especially when the rest of the family is at home. You realize that getting up before everyone is the way forward, to be sure of a few hours of quiet before the fun starts; and then burning the candle at the other end as the TV is finally off and the distracting debris of the day cleared away. And then comes the slight light headedness as a result of creeping lack of sleep.
Yes, that means too much focus on food (see image of more recent long term meal plan, now necessary as a way of trying to make it all last long enough till the next Ocado delivery is due), doling out snacks to keep family quiet and busy, trying to avoid reliance on peanut butter and toast as the default meal option, repeatedly checking of cupboards to check what supplies are left, trying to work out what will run out first and thus ‘spreading the risk’ through diversification of consumption of items.
But it is also very very different.
Most importantly is the sense of fear and commitment to living like this. It is not a choice; it is an order and it is the very least we can do.
And that we are all in this – I am at home but so is everyone else and we are thinking about how to stay together apart. Finding new ways to feel like we are still in touch and share thoughts and experiences. I have never felt less isolated, which is important as it could get tougher.
