Have you learned anything from lockdown?

I've hated the whole bloody thing all I want us to go back to the unremarkable life I had before heaven knows that was dull enough without having those small pleasures taken away. I thought we might be nearing the beginning of the end but seeing the briefing tonight has made me very pessimistic.

farview

I’m joining you soon farview, my daughter and family are going to live in New Zealand for a year, possibly a bit longer. They intend to come back, I really hope they do. They’re both drs and have absolutely had enough of the unremitting stress in the NHS since this all started. They’re also parents to three young children and they despair of the children ever having the life they enjoyed before. No clubs, no ballet, no horse riding, no rugby or football clubs, no park run, no nothing. Instead stressed out and over worked parents who both got Covid. I don’t blame them, they can have a normal life again in New Zealand. But I’ll miss them so, so much.

Scribbles

I have learned how horribly easy it is for a despotic government to deprive a population of its freedoms and civil liberties by scaring them into acquiescence.

Too true, I'm afraid.

It has surprised me just how scared people can be and just how little anyone understands risk.

Whether people have had a good or bad lockdown, really depends on where you started from. As a family we are friendly and open but don’t visit frequently. We are all quite insular and the lockdown has not been too bad for any of us.

We have obeyed the rules and found other ways to enjoy ourselves. There has been a lot of creativity within the family. Some of the younger ones have been volunteering, joining Samaritans, helping neighbours and distributing food. Lots of people we know have remarked on the community spirit that they have witnessed. Two of my GCs have had new careers resulting from COVID. We have found new ways to communicate with each other which will continue after lockdown ends.

The most important thing for us is that none of us have friends or relatives that have had the disease. I hope it has made us kinder and more understanding of those who have not had our good fortune.

Oh merlotgran how sad. Your quiet resilience has made me think about my own experience of the last year. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and get some routine going again. Thank you.

Because there are so many selfish people who have, all through the lockdowns, have done as they please. There are people bear me who have taken no notice of travelling and having short holidays within the UK. They travel from England into Wales despite travel regulations. I can imagine people like those plus holiday makers returning from countries where there is still high numbers of covid, low numbers of vaccinated bringing another wave back to UK.
I have been happy with lockdowns and if we have another I will accept that as well if it means me and my family remain healthy!

What I have learned is that I can cope being in the house 24/7, that peace and quiet are lovely That my focussing on changing the inside of my home to make it more comfy, is a good thing.
Also, people can be lovely and be helpful for which I am grateful. I have also learnt that Zoom meetings, writers talks, doctor appointments, Zoom prayer groups and church services ARE a wonderful idea, it’s does mean I’ve chatted to people, kept my brain going and without having to go outside even in winter! Basically I’ve learned to be grateful.

How many scared sheep there are in this country. Also how beautiful it is.

It’s been lovely not having a real schedule - absolutely no pressure and feeling if you don’t do something today it really doesn’t matter you can do it the next day. I’ve been sleeping better although I wasn’t at the beginning of this pandemic as I was worrying about what was going to happen. But that aside it’s been awful and I have missed our social lives, seeing friends and especially family and visiting places of interest and beauty. I don’t think this is over yet - who knows what’s going to happen - let’s just be careful, take it slow and be glad for small changes.

I have learned to shop on the internet.

I have learned that I am quite happy and relaxed spending much more time at home by myself.
I have a once a month zoom call with some friends. I have been quite poor at keeping in touch with friends and they have been the same. I do miss them but equally I do enjoy my own company.
My life was all dashing around from one activity to the next, still doing some freelance work and my diary was always full. Now it isn't and there are benefits to that too. FOMO lurks around a bit at the back of my mind but no one seems to be doing much anyway.

What I have learnt is that there is absolutely no point in keeping old people alive and ruining the lives of everyone else. As an old person I would quite happily take the risks if it enabled my children and grandchildren to be free of lockdown.
Mental health issues of schoolchildren, unemployment for millions. Financial struggles for the whole country just to keep me alive, I don’t want that.
There will always be some who make money during wars and pandemics but I’m thinking of the millions who are struggling and will have to pay for this for years and years to come.

I've learned that all my excuses about not doing decorating, fixing things, clearing out clutter, etc. in the house ("if only I had more time") is all rubbish. The truth is that I don't like this house, have no interest in investing my time and energy into it, and it's time to think about moving!

Tempest

What I have learnt is that there is absolutely no point in keeping old people alive and ruining the lives of everyone else. As an old person I would quite happily take the risks if it enabled my children and grandchildren to be free of lockdown.
Mental health issues of schoolchildren, unemployment for millions. Financial struggles for the whole country just to keep me alive, I don’t want that.
There will always be some who make money during wars and pandemics but I’m thinking of the millions who are struggling and will have to pay for this for years and years to come.

How old is old? Forgive me for not wanting to join you in your lemmings act.

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Very emotive but cracking subject

I’ve learnt how easily people have accepted freedoms being taken away and that quite scares me .

I am totally with Bluebell on this. I think I have learned not to have expectations and therefore not to be disappointed - I am hearing the doom and gloom predictions about a third wave from Europe hitting us in Juky/August and therefore we won't be going back to normal. I also read that the government are intending to extend their covid legislation until October. On the other hand by not having something to look forward to, makes enduring this even worse.
Sorry for the gloomy post, normally I love the spring, my favourite season, as it usually holds all the promises for the coming year, but I'm now afraid to look for promises.

Well I have lived through something a bit like this before, my daughter was agoraphobic for most of her teenage years, and my going anywhere made her extremely anxious, so the most I could manage was a dash to the supermarket. I did learn to be patient, more than I could ever have imagined because on the whole I am not.! It was the only thing I could do. I used to wonder if things would ever change, thankfully as my daughter got older she learnt cope with her problem, with help from various sources and now lives a pretty normal life. So lockdown has been very much a groundhog day situation. Depressing to read how many of you think we're a long way away from the end of this. I worry especially for anyone who has mental health issues, our son also has problems, if there is no light at the end of the tunnel it will be very hard for them.

For me it’s been awful at times ,I live very happily in france ,but there have been a few times when I’ve wished we’d never come as I miss my children and grandchild terribly ,it’s been over a year since I’ve seen them in the flesh ,but that’s the only thing I’d change ,I still work (as a nurse) and all the shops are open ,just the restaurants and bars which are shut ,so actually things haven’t changed that much

Like you WW, I have enjoyed it in a weird way ! Yes, I have really missed my family, holidays, freedom etc, but people in my area seem to have become more friendly. I have enjoyed walking every day instead of dashing around to various social events. I think I am perhaps learning to just enjoy the simpler things in life.

I haven’t done anything useful in lockdowns - last year caught Covid - coughed for 3 months but luckily recovered- this time have had a hip replacement so have been recovering from that? now that I feel more or less ok am getting really fed up with all the restrictions- miss all my friends and family.

Who really cares....

It is the desire to GO OUT, SOCIALISE, and TRAVEL ABROAD ETC that has is in this mess we are in.
One thing I have learned is to think of the bigger picture, think of others giving up their lives for us and be patient

That should of been who really cares about me....

Well, I have an admission ...


I have a new man in my life :-) ... and I don't mean a dog or a delivery man ... a real man for a romantic relationship.

It's somebody I knew years ago and we've kind of had an online relationship. Both of us want to meet, but we're both careful about restrictions. I'm not sure we would have got back in touch if we hadn't been forced to stay in our homes.

So life's not over until the fat lady sings!