Isolation: Lessons We’ll All Learn From Lockdown
Finding ourselves in isolation, in the middle of a global pandemic, three months in to the new year wasn’t what any of us saw coming…
It’s undoubtedly a testing and foreign time for us all, bound to our houses– aside from the heroic frontline workers- learning to adjust to this ‘new normal’.
Image Source/ Telegraph
The best way to describe this unprecedented experience is, simply, up and down. One day (or minute) you’re remaining positive and hopeful in the knowledge that this is temporary and will pass, then the next you’ve resigned yourself to it. It’s quite the rollercoaster…
The world’s suffering, so you’re entitled and almost expected to suffer with it. You’re allowed to be sad and scared, angry and frustrated- we are, in a way, mourning our old lives.
Never have we been forced inside our homes and told we can’t go to work, can’t see our friends, can’t hug our Mums before. Nothing about this whole thing is natural or normal, so neither will your emotions or routines be.
Image Source/ Forbes
However, aside from the obvious fear, sadness, boredom that has come from this, there’s also been some valuable lessons we can all take far beyond isolation..
Learning To Slow Down
We often let ourselves get swept up in the fast pace of life, making it easy to put off that phone call or Facetime catch-up.
Since isolation, we’ve made more effort to reach out to our friends, to see how they’re getting on and it’s because we haven’t got other trivial things distracting us from what really matters.
During testing times, is when people grow closer together. We lean on each other in times of hardship, and remember those who were there when you needed them most. Make sure you’re being that person for your loved ones, and hopefully in return, they’ll be that person for you too.
We’re More Adaptable Than We Think
As much as our worlds felt they were catapulted upside down when all this kicked off, we’re slowly realising that we can get through this.
The thought of being under house arrest, with the looming fear of why hanging over you in the process, seemed impossible at first. Not seeing our friends, our grandparents, not going to work, all seemed impossible.
Image Source/ Telegraph
But, here we are, a few weeks in and we’re coping. As humans, we don’t like change- it’s against natural instinct. We don’t like to be pushed out of our comfort zones, we’re very ‘comfortable’ beings.
But, we are adaptable; as much as we don’t feel like we are.
We’ve learnt to adapt to this ‘new normal’, to adapt our routines and rewire our brains to make this all bearable (and even productive- some days, anyway). We might even miss aspects of it? The lie ins anyway…
Isolation: Prioritising Our Mental Health
When all the peripheral things in our lives are stripped away, and we’ve just got ourselves, we realise how crucial it is to preserve our mental health.
Learning what helps your own mind feel happy is what we’ll all take out of this. Learning not to rely on others for our happiness and fulfilment is a lesson we could all do with.
Image Source/ GoodHousekeeping
Whether it be exercise, eating easter eggs for breakfast, yoga, reading, learning something new, whatever it is that keeps you ‘sane’ during this time, is what we all need to remember and practice way beyond ‘isolation’.
Isolation: We Don’t Know What We Have Until It’s Gone
There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to bring you crashing down to earth, ey?
In our daily lives, it’s often just a given that tomorrow is promised- we book appointments in advance just expecting them to happen, book holidays just expecting to be able to board the plane.
It’s very easy to become accustomed to our routines (we all do it), but this experience has, hopefully, made us realise what we maybe took for granted.
EVERYTHING will be more appreciated and enjoyed when this passes; that first beer garden drink, that first hug, even that first trip back to the gym.
Since we’ve experienced it all being taken away from us, we’ll look at just about everything from a different perspective.
We Need To Stop Touching Things…
Above anything, we’ve learnt just how much we touch our faces, and pretty much EVERYTHING. We’ve learnt to WASH OUR HANDS, and take more care when it comes to sanitary.
Image Source/ Telegraph
It will be a special time when normal life resumes, but we mustn’t let this all be in vein…
