Because This Has Become Our Lives For The Time Being
So here is a thing.
We have most of the population currently in lock down. And of course I am not just talking about the UK here, this is the global population.
A global lock down of a kind we only thought possible in second rate sci-fi novels and late night “straight to DVD” movies on obscure cable channels.
And I strongly suspect that many will not be coping well. If my experience is anything to go by, and surely it must be, then people will be finding themselves anywhere on the scale between full on, stress inducing, anxiety and relaxed, stoic-like, calm. Often veering between the two extremes in a very short period of time.
Sound familiar?
And then there are the accompanying thoughts.
Have I caught the virus? Has anyone around me got it? Is everyone behaving as they should? Is she closer than two metres away from me? Why are so many older people out walking the streets?
You get the picture I’m sure, because this has become our lives for the time being.
And then there is the thing that I referred to.
Well, also like many others I'm sure, I have been regularly checking for symptoms of the virus. And everyday, or at least most days, I have found something that causes mild concern. A sore throat perhaps, tightness in the chest, something, anything, to suggest that maybe it is my turn to step onto the slippery Corona slope. And the anxiety levels increase just a notch every time I have these thoughts.
So move on a little and today I read an article about anxiety, and how it is actually the body's natural survival mechanism in overdrive. But the part that jumped out at me was when this article stated, in bold and fully highlighted, that anxiety about this crisis, especially when it is at an intense level, can cause very similar symptoms to the start of the virus itself. Shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, digestive issues and headache.
So worrying about catching the virus can give us symptoms suggesting that we have the virus which increases the anxiety and, well, you get the picture.
A downward spiral of fear and anxiety, feeding off itself.
And of course it made me think, but strangely it was this blog that came to mind rather than anything else. Because in some ways the very reason that this blog exists, and provides me with a certain degree of happiness, is to try and see the beauty, and perhaps more importantly, the positivity that surrounds us whilst we live our relatively normal lives. And for that reason alone it made me think that it just might be possible that this has never, certainly within my lifetime, been more valuable and important.
Whatever it is, wherever we are, I believe that we need to see the things that make us smile and hang onto them. For they will hopefully help us to get through this with some level of sanity remaining and hopefully a healthy and somewhat balanced view of the world.
Oh, and it might also be good to turn off the news, ditch social media and put the disgusting tabloid and fear spreading newspapers where they really belong, either in the bin or as a useful alternative when all of the toilet paper stockpiles start to run out.
That might help as well.
