“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart” Phyllis Theroux
This quote was posted on Instagram by the very talented @giuliawrites recently as part of a project she is running at the moment. As so many of us find ourselves inside with our thoughts and feelings, letter writing is one way that we can express ourselves - in a deeper way than with tweets or phone calls. Giulia is collating a series of letters and inviting others to participate in her project too. So here’s mine.
A Letter from Home
The calendar tells me that today is the 1st April, and the blossom buds outside my window seem to be in full agreement. My brain is struggling to process this though, having effectively lost a month to illness, self isolation and now of course a ‘lockdown’
All of these are such negative terms though and now that I’m feeling better I am trying hard to think of things in a more positive light. I haven’t ‘lost’ a month, but I have spent a month getting over a nasty bug (possibly Coronavirus, possibly not - who knows), helping other family members get over their illness in turn and learning more about patience than I ever thought possible.
I have adapted to a new way of living and working - almost overnight. Making it up as we go and finding solutions that work for our 2 kids and 2 adults working at home.
Like everyone else, we are all just making it up as we go along. No one has experienced anything like this before. We truly are living in exceptional times and we need to remember that and speak kindly to ourselves - using the same tone that I use to my children when they come to me seeking reassurance.
I’m finding great comfort in focusing on the small everyday things around the house just now. Enjoying those little moments of calm, that cup of coffee sat on the doorstep in a patch of sunlight, listening to the birds who seem to be on nest-building overdrive. There are moments of calm, even joy, in every day. The trick is to spot them when they are happening.
Being confined to the house, being limited in what groceries we can buy and when, being uncertain and fearful of the future - this is a reality for so many people now. But it has been a reality for a long time for those members of society with a chronic illness or who find themselves isolated for whatever reason. The fact that now I find myself facing these issues really highlights my own privilege in a way that is starkly unavoidable.
I have no answers and no magic solutions to this. Just a hope that when this passes, and it will eventually, we emerge with a renewed appreciation for what we have, for our freedoms and hopefully a greater understanding of the struggles of others.
