So not a productive week blog wise. I did start drafting a couple of posts but for the time being, they are abandoned. Work has felt surprisingly busy this week, normally that would be a good thing. Not sure what it is, but it feels like there is just this pervasive miasma of anxiety over the world at the moment, understandable, so many people have suffered and are suffering, fearing for family members or wondering how they will pay the bills.
I have no irrational anxiety about the pandemic and I have job security but it just feels like the very air I breath is heavy in tension. I am missing the camping, a small price to pay. I am lucky, in that a walk in the park is an absolute necessity with Ada, still allowed and we have lovely parks to do that in. But I am feeling a toll being taken in my mental health, a downward swing is definitely, in full swing at the moment, draining my energy and enthusiasm. I am not alone, I had at least two conversations this week where the stress of others felt like a wave of anxiety down the phone. The current lock down is a source of stress for many.
There are advantages, like a bit of a sleep in, or more time for a walk in the morning but the disruption to my routine has been more of a negative, than a positive. Really, really important to get a bit of my old discipline back into the day, get up earlier and make sure I get my quiet hour with a journal, a book and a coffee. Next week, I will be disciplined about making sure I get that precious hour without interruption. It was foolish to let my routine slip and I should have known better.
Last weekend we did not completely abandon camping but instead we set up camp in the back yard. For Easter Sunday we cooked over an open fire and spent the evening sitting under the stars and talking, no distractions from screens. It was such a success and I got the best night’s sleep, I am planning on doing the same thing this weekend. I am reminded of that bit in Cloud St where the grandmother moves out of the house and into a tent in the backyard, I think I know how she felt. It has been so long since I read that wonderful novel, perhaps it is time for a re-read.
Sorry a bit of a rambling post. How is everyone coping with our pandemic year?
Gum trees and Galaxies 
I totally agree Sharon, there is a real sense of anxiety in the air. We’ve noticed the increased anxiety levels here at home, and not that we were particularly worried about getting the virus. Just doing the regular grocery shop increases the anxiety – trying to maintain physical distancing, watching out for other people, keeping an eye on Dan’s proximity, let alone trying to find the things on my list. And it comes on you at strange times, even when you’re not thinking about covid 19 – it’s just there, in our sub-conscious. We’re going to need so much therapy after this. Love your Easter camping. There’s always the backyard.
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The physical distancing is a challenge, I feel like I am playing some weird form of dodgem with people if I do need to get something from the shop. I am hopeful that Australia and New Zealand will escape the horror that is being experienced in some parts of Europe and America. The pandemic has added an extra dimension to study stress and I feel for everyone juggling study, family and the general anxiety.
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Keeping busy with all sorts of things so I don’t have a spare moment to think about it all too much! Virtual happy hours on the house party app have given us some laughs.
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It is definitely a weird one. Were I not prevented from going anywhere (we have been confined inside our apartment in Italy for over a month) I would probably be delighted at being in the mountains with no-one else around. The nature is wonderful and watching the transformation from a white, snow-blanketed desert to sunlit, Alpine green with birds flitting around is lovely, but it is always in the back of our minds that we can’t get out there to enjoy it, even though there is no-one here. If the restrictions do lift as proposed on May 3rd, we have some of the most wonderful walking in Europe on our doorstep and intend to make the most of it until the rest of the Continent opens its doors again.
I had to admonish Mark the other day for saying, “We’d be 6 weeks into our trip around Poland and The Baltics by now!” I prefer not to think about the situation or what we’re missing. You could say I am being either sanguine – or in denial!
We have emailed a beach campsite in France, who said that they expect to be open in mid-June, so without getting too excited, I am hopeful that there is an end in sight and that we might be able to leave the mountins and avail ourselves of some Vitamin Sea on our way back to Blighty. We have abandoned our Continental travel plans for this year.
But in the meantime, I shall remain sanguine – or in denial! 🙂
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The beach and France is something to look forward to.
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