I was very tempted to write a blog post at the start of lockdown. At this point, in a heightened state of survival, facing what felt like impending global doom, writing a piece on how I intended to tackle this ”unprecedented” period through art seemed like a sensible, grounding way to process the gloop swimming in my mind.
But something in me hesitated. The weeks lying ahead were going to be some of the most unknown and restricted times our society has collectively faced. Much was TBC. Instead I decided to write something as the lockdown ended. And so I am...on the monumental day the British institution that is the pub, reopens its doors to a public that have been denied the right to order a pint for a long, long time. We are seasoned lockdowners with experience and hindsight in our favour. We each know in our hearts how sh*t went down. Lockdown is ending and the forbidden everyday pleasures of the past feel like they are slowly coming back.
For the past three months we have been suspended in a collective uncertainty like none we have ever experienced before. The forces of the universe decided to hit pause on each of our individual life films. We were made to stop. Most of the time, time flies by. Before we know it another weekend has passed, another birthday has come and gone and we are celebrating a new year wondering how the hell another three hundred and sixty five days have disappeared, again. With the lockdown however, time came to a grinding halt.
Gone was the hurried hustle and bustle of normal life and rather we found ourselves in a weird, slowed down micro world limited to specific locations, activities and people. The backdrop of news updates and Thursday evening NHS claps provided a soundtrack. The blossom flowers in the endless spring sunshine seemed to bloom like they’ve never bloomed before. Sunshine decided to arrive confidently in England when we couldn’t sit down in the park to bask in its rays. The trees and birds found a way to rebel against a deadly virus by simply being beautiful. A wonderland of nature emerged within the context of death; a metaphorical, temporary death of a society combined with the literal human death count of a new disease.
The lockdown felt like an impossible amalgamation of simultaneously closing and opening our eyes. On the one hand a huge portion of day to day life completely stopped. Whilst on the other hand, an alternative way of existing that never seemed available in pre-Covid-19 times materialised. Whether this new way was net positive or net negative, completely depended on a person’s circumstance with three key factors being physical health, financial stability and mental well-being. But regardless of the situation we may have found ourselves in, the lockdown gave us all one gift: the ability to see more clearly.
At an individual level much has likely to have surfaced. What we consider the joy in our lives became illuminated. We may have a deeper appreciation and gratitude for who and what we actually have. We might have been able to say goodbye to ways of living we no longer wish to resume. On the flip side, we might have lost things we know we need to find again. We might have discovered new ways of spending our time that heal our minds and bodies. We may have had realisations, epiphanies and answers to questions we had not even thought to have previously asked.
Through a macro lens the holes in our society have become blatantly obvious. A painfully unequal existence that is held in place by systems that feel insurmountable to overcome and rebuild, is the daily reality for many people. Many of these people are poor. Many are people of colour. Many are vulnerable. Many are alone. Many are unwell. Many are all of these. These issues have proven themselves to be so visible during this pandemic that to shield away from these glaring truths in order to avoid the internal discomfort it triggers is next to impossible. For some people, every day is a battle of survival. The way in which our society has been operating is entrenched in injustice.
We are all entering into the post lockdown era as changed individuals. We have, to varying degrees, experienced what it means to have something taken away from us. A loss different to what we might have experienced before. Perhaps this is too idealistic but I feel that this experience of isolation has paradoxically brought people together. What it actually means to face a novel and complicated threat has generated a difficult emotional undercurrent that has uniquely bonded us. On a human level a three month lockdown has probably not been as easy as...a walk in the park. But it is through difficulty that growth can occur.
Which takes us to a big word:
Purpose
the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
Purpose has never felt more relevant. Important questions have arisen: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Who are we doing it for?
What we do with this information collectively and individually is yet to be seen. It’s too early to know how seismic the changes will be and whether the profundity of this entire chapter will flourish into serious and credible change for the better or be reduced into a global event that negatively impacted economic growth for a while. My hope is it becomes a time we look at as historically significant, not for what it literally was, but for what it became the catalyst for.
