Okay, so it’s been about three days since my place of work was closed for the forseeable future. At this point it feels a lot closer to three weeks. The days have all blended into one and weekends are but a social construct that fail to exist in this modern world!
Basically, I’m hopeful but deluded. I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet that this is just the start of a minimum, 6 week ‘holiday’. I keep waiting for Boris to pop up on the telly at 5pm and tell us we can all go back to work, Covid-19 has magically cured itself.
Of course, the reality is that this is a prolonged period of unknown and unnerving times. I fully expect it to be a rollercoaster of emotions. In preparation for the weeks ahead I’m following advice from Joey in that episode of Friends when he spaces out his to-do list over a full week. *I honestly don’t have the desire to find a quote or clip so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, take it up with Google*.
Over the next few weeks my priority is RuPaul’s Drag Race. I’m currently working my way through Season 10 and expect to be up to date within the week. Not only is it light-hearted and funny, the repetitive nature of the show provides my take on a routine. Let’s be honest, we aren’t all going to be setting our alarms for 7am or colour coordinating our calenders with frivilous tasks like showering!
I have begun to investigate online courses but I’m apprehensive to rush into something just for the sake of it. Whilst I want to value this time and make use of it in order to better my life and skillsets, I think it would be easy to pick something and then find it of little value past keeping me entertained. Like I said, we are in this for the long-haul so save the books and crochet and have something to look forward to in two weeks from now.
Baking. I’ve already seen so many people on my instafeed turning to their ovens in this hour of need and I think it is a fabulous way to occupy your mind and master a new skill! This leads me seemlessly into what is arguably the biggest part of this social distancing palava. Social media.
In recent years, social media has been the subject of much debate and argument. We’ve seen how it has transformed from an exciting new form of communication to a complex maze of mental health issues and cyber bullying. From my own experience, I can say that in the last few days I have spent more time enjoying the likes of Instagram than I have in years. Seeing friends and colleagues rally round to support eachother, share silly memes and spend time standing up for their industries and fellow workers has been nothing short of wonderful. It has demonstrated to me how we can use our pages for good. I can only imagine how difficult it would be if we were to remove the internet from our lives in these trying times. Despite being in ‘self isolation’ we are arguably more connected to one another and our emotional well-being than ever before.
If you have any suggestions for decent online courses or things to do, please do share them with me. You can find me frequently refreshing on Twitter and Instagram @sophieaiken.
Sophie x
SOPHIE AIKEN 