"Do you remember when the world went on pause?"
I'm gonna pre-warn you there isn't a whole lot of structure to the following blog post, just like there hasn't been a whole lot of structure to the past three months.
"Do you remember when the world went on pause?" That's what we will say when we look back at all of this. Since March, the weeks and months have morphed into one. It's as if time has warped. It feels like a lifetime ago since there was any normality to everyday life and wearing a mask in public would look odd. It's like the world stopped turning for the first time as countries ground to a halt and we waited for this COVID storm to pass.
The good news is now the light at the end of the 'lockdown' tunnel is beginning to shine through all be it, slightly. I don't know a single person who has completely enjoyed the past three months myself included. I've had good days and bad days and sometimes a few beers before midday but who knows how to behave, think or feel because none of this has been normal.
Reading, writing, editing, puzzles, painting and gardening are some of the ways for how I've killed the hours of lockdown. I got fed up of lockdown around mid-May but then was quickly reminded I had nothing to complain about after I started reading a book about WW2 POW in a Japanese camp. These soldiers were fighting off starvation, torture and the grim reaper while I was sat in my garden in sunny Costa Del Salford fighting off bees and finishing off a few beers. It took only the introduction before I called myself an idiot for even complaining in the first place.
Once this storm passes and the world begins to turn at the pace we're all familiar with, I don't think things will return to how they were before. I mean how can they? Besides the negative emotional impact this has had on people's lives, I think there will be many parents, who prior to this struggled to find the balance between work and home life and now having spent more time with their kids in the past three months than ever before, will rethink their priorities in the future. Unless home-schooling was a nightmare and they are now considering putting them up for adoption and buying a villa in Spain.
Personally, I can't wait to see the creations that come out of this from comedians, filmmakers and writers as they interpret these past few months through their work. 2020 will forever be remembered as the year lost to COVID-19 but I'm optimistic that the next six months will be positive and they'll be a few silver linings to this COVID-19 storm cloud.
Until time next time take it easy.
Harry
