Got used to this casual way of living

Much as I hate everything about Covid - the illness, the deaths and all the other hard things - I do think it has given some of us time to take stock.

It has made me realise who and what is important to me.

Going out is not as important anymore and I am not bothered about going on holiday in the near future. I think I'll get back to going on holiday but just not this particular year.

I love the slower pace of life. I think like many people i have come to realise my life had too much "stuff" in it, too much "stuff" to do, too much "stuff" to organise etc. Just glad to stay still for a while.

overthehill, it's so true that there's much to be said for the simple life.

We have time to really appreciate things, opportunities to relax - and a new understanding of how little is really important.

Despite the weather, I have that chilled, holiday feeling!

Just recently I’ve begun to relax and quite enjoying not having to rush about. The roads are still quiet and I can get a good parking space in the supermarket. I think I’m becoming a recluse !
I do miss family and friends a lot, but I wonder where I’m going to get the energy from to join in again.

No, I don’t like it. I miss seeing my friends. I don’t like being unable to go out to eat, to the theatre, to the cinema. I don’t like restrictions on seeing my family, although we’ve got childcare and support bubbles for one family of grandchildren and for my elderly mother, which makes it better than the first lockdown. I don’t like waking up to the feeling of nothingness on the days we’re not involved in childcare. I don’t particularly like wasting too much time on Gransnet, but I do nonetheless. I don’t like having hair that’s a mess, but I have got an appointment lined up for 13th April. I rarely wear make up any more, or nice clothes, and I’ve gained a few pounds in places I’d rather not have it. Last summer was a brief respite from lockdown. We lived more or less normally for a month or two, then wack, we were back in lockdown. I got Covid anyway, not from any lack of care but from my mother (support bubble) who was hospitalised after a fall, and picked up Covid in the hospital. I ended up in hospital for twelve days and wondered what all the lockdown was about when I ended up seriously ill with Covid anyway. So no, I don’t like this way of living, casual or otherwise.

I spend every day raging, I feel like I'm in prison. My usual happy lovely home feels like a cage. This isn't living it's absolute torturen

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end and we can sense it.

So for me, it’s like taking a last long look around a room before I leave and go back to life.

It was definitely more stressful when we didn’t know when we’d be unlocked. Now though, we know it’s close enough to touch, so we can breathe again and drop our shoulders, in the knowledge that the door to the world will be opening soon.

We had an enforced, quieter life.
It’s nearly done. x

Maddyone and biscuitmuncher, I’m like both of you, I hate everything about lockdowns and Covid. Living alone, life is very boring, lonely, dreary and a bit scary as well. I did not really feel the benefit of that brief time over the summer as living in Greater Manchester, we soon went into strict restrictions and none of my social life really restarted.

I can’t wait for my WI to be able to meet, with over 80 members, it might be a while before we can hold an indoor meeting, my NWR discussion group has to wait for 15 people to be allowed in a house and my Meet-up dining groups depend on restaurants accepting bookings of lots of people all from different households. I’ll have to make the most of small groups of six sat outside I guess.

I can’t see my mum in her care home, I haven’t seen my son for almost 15 months as he lives too far away to pop round for a socially distanced visit and goodness knows when I’ll be going to the US again to see my grandchildren.

My biggest fear is that by the time we get to June 21st and freedom, infections will be rising again and changes will be made to the road map!

Oh dear, I sound really depressed, I’m not really, just in need of some company, despite several Zoom sessions each week, it’s not the same as going to a cafe to meet friends or having my son come and visit for a weekend.

Everything Teacheranne said.

I HATE this state of affairs. It isn't living; it's mere existence and I WANT MY LIFE BACK.

Now though, we know it’s close enough to touch, so we can breathe again and drop our shoulders, in the knowledge that the door to the world will be opening soon.

No, Urmstongran, all we know for certain is the minimum length of our incarceration.

There are many things I’ve hated about lockdown: the worry that family members might get COVID or that they might get sick with something else and not be treated, the difficulty in accessing dentists and doctors, the unavailability of hairdressers and beauticians. I’ve hated that my son and his girlfriend have not been indoors with me. However, I’m so grateful that I have been able to be with my daughter and her family and I’ve enjoyed the slower pace of life. I have walked more in the past 12 months than I have ever done before and I feel much fitter for it. I’ve also been sewing every day and I’ve enjoyed that so very much. I would never have chosen to live in such a solitary way, but I have definitely appreciated the slower pace of life.

Have worked all the way through, so in some ways if hasn’t been so different. But my daughter and her three children moved in just before lockdown, and with home schooling and my daughter and I juggling work and children, it hasn’t been easy.
I really, really miss the seaside.
I really, really miss a day wandering around the shops with my husband, and having a relaxing lunch.
I really miss my friends , and my other children and grandchildren.
But most of all I miss my hairdresser!

Yes, I can appreciate that for some, All this has been much harder, depending upon circumstances and for that I really am sorry for the hardships lockdowns have caused.

I was of course only speaking for myself up thread.

I hate every moment of being denied everything that makes life worthwhile, seeing family, shopping, eating out, theatre, cinema, dinner parties with friends, travel throughout UK and the rest of the world. There seems to be an element of Stockholm Syndrome creeping into some people I know!

Not with me. We have flights booked for June!

I realised after I posted that I should have said that despite all the privations, because I caught Covid and was so very, very ill, that despite everything, I’m glad to be alive, and recovering very well. Still got the horrid Covid cough, and a bit of breathlessness, but I’ve really made a good recovery, thanks to our wonderful NHS. So although I’m sick of the lockdown and everything that it entails, I’m glad to be here and still able to waste time on Gransnet.

It is exactly a year a ago that the first long down happened. School stopped and I worked at home sending out school lessons and for the adult classes I learnt to zoom. I had the choice in May to go back, when half classes started but I continued at home. However, in September because at the time face masks for children weren’t considered, like they are now, I had to stop working there. I cannot return to my old job and I miss it. Luckily, I still have my zoom couses.

Scribbles and Teacheranne for you both. Hang in there, hopefully we’re on the way out of this.

I hate this way of life! One thing that kept me going was the thought I'd be able to travel to see my Canadian family this summer which would be 2 years since I'd last seen them....well it looks like that boat is getting ready to sail. As a couple we've not been able to bubble with anyone, and I do appreciate I'm lucky to not live alone, but to hear my severe learning disability grandson crying because he misses us so much is heart wrenching. I'm a natural rule keeper, but if this goes on much longer I'll be saying f* it, and seeing my family that live in the UK. If it's good enough for protests and vigils, it's good enough for me.

Teacheranne
“My biggest fear is that by the time we get to June 21st and freedom, infections will be rising again and changes will be made to the road map!”
Teacheranne exactly. Can’t believe they gave us the actual date for release! Very far fetched.

Well I hate it. The first lockdown wasn't too bad as we had some nice weather and I could get out in the forest with the dog. Of course, I still take the dog for a walk but it's not particularly enjoyable in bad weather.

I miss meeting up with friends, going for a meal, going to a pub now and again, going to classes and choir. It is depressing - and 21 June is midsummer's day so we'll not have much of the summer left to enjoy.

We still see our son and grandchildren because the children stayed with us for some of the week because their parents were too busy working from home to assist with learning and to generally keep an eye on things. It's been horrible for children too. How can anyone enjoy this?

Rosie hopefully not too much longer.

And Eloethan not long now hopefully.

Apart from seeing family, things like shopping, eating out, cinema, theatre, dinner parties with friends, travel, that another poster said was what made life worthwhile, made me realise how different we all are.
None of those deprivations matter at all to me. I am happy not feeling obliged to go out to things and join in with others.
Perhaps I’m just anti social, or have become more so the last year.