Can you share one link that describes what you want a post-COVID world to look like?
SUSIE: I don’t know what it will look like. But I hope it sounds like this.
MELISSA: I can’t as it is still so fluid. I’m not sure yet if there will be a ‘post-COVID’ world. Perhaps it is something that will always be there, or at least similar such experiences.
The Pandemic takes over so many aspects of our lives as many people (most of us!) are pressed into a sense of survival mode. What is one thing you do daily as your routine or thinking to contribute to your ‘non-Pandemic’ world?
GEMMA: With a son in Year 11, it’s been really important to try and stick to a routine in support of his home schooling which is often easier said than done, as it’s so easy to slip into boredom and lethargy when you’re sitting in front of a screen all day, it’s raining and you can’t see your friends. This time around, I’m focussing on the little things I can do to create a peaceful environment. For example, every morning I sneak into his work room, turn the heater on and leave on his desk a glass of water, a little platter of snacks and a note with a stupid saying. For myself, I’m trying to make it onto the yoga mat everyday, even if it’s just for 5 minutes, and have also gotten into the habit of having a bath when I finish work. A wet commute!
SUSIE: I'm really averse to the idea of a routine. I have an arsenal or a toolkit of things/thoughts that make up my world, and I use these elements to shape my days. It gives me the illusion of spontaneity.
I work 4 days a week, so I have some more balance between my non-Pandemic world and my work world, where there tends to be more impact from the Pandemic. That extra day I have to myself allows me to do my own projects, switch off, go into my own head, go into the world, sleep ... escape.
I have some mental routines separating my work life from my home life, and I'm really thankful for them. They're not consistent, but they basically consist of doing [something] before work, whether it's making coffee, going for a walk/jog/bike ride, doing yoga or meditating, doing a crossword. I have a big list to choose from. It might just be doing dishes or listening to the radio.
Similarly at the end of the day I put a shawl over my computer monitor. I never check emails after I log off for the day or over the weekend.
MELISSA: Daily meditation and yoga are vital as even in peak anxiety Pandemic days these practices can seem like they don’t even touch the edges.
BECK: I believe in visualisation and collective consciousness so every day I make sure I put an affirmation in the thought jar. These include a kind, just, sustainable world.
What is of most value to you RIGHT NOW?
GEMMA: Connection. I was going to preface that with “human”, but we quite recently adopted a dog and I’m blown-away by the connection, be it physical or otherwise, that we can have with another species. Also, intuition and humour. Vulnerability.
SUSIE: Probably that shawl!
MELISSA: My connections to self and others. However we are able to maintain this.
BECK: I want all the people I love (myself included) and people I don’t know to stay healthy and safe from the COVID-19 virus but also from the virus of hatred, racism and violence.