March Round Up

This month didn't start out as much different to any other. Coronavirus was there in the memos from work and on the news, but it seemed like those preparations and suggestions were so distant. Then I got ill-- just a virus. Then we had to quarantine "as a precaution", then the country started to quite quickly move towards shutdown as we watched from our social media accounts and heard about the weird feeling in the air from those still at work.

Self-isolation and social-distancing are now in our vocabulary forevermore. They were never words I had used before this month, now we're all living it. That first week before the actual lockdown' on Monday 23rd was tough. There were moments of anxiety and panic and sadness. The gym still being open was a reminder of life continuing whilst I was stuck, ill, at home not able to have my release. Then it closed and it seemed like the final 'normal' parts of my day-to-day were being taken from me. 

But now, on the 31st as I write, the feeling is one of acceptance and gratitude for the little things and the existing luxuries that were probably taken for granted a bit before. Work is a blessing as I have become an education 'help desk', answering queries from students, marveling at their resilience as pieces of work come in hourly. Of course it is a case of seeing life before with slightly rose-tinted specs: day to day life was mundane and hugely stressful, and the students weren't always on top form. But it was my 'normal'. 

Thinking forward too far isn't a wise move, but I suspect going back to any form of a day-to-day workplace scenario will feel like a huge adjustment. Even after only a few weeks away, it feels that way. I will sample the oddness later this week when I do my time at work, supporting key-workers' children. That will be interesting, and a welcome day-trip out at this point (even if tainted by the nervousness of catching this thing).

March has been a month to never forget-- one for the history books. The theme of 'Shades of Green' for my photography project was very easy to do seeing as I embraced nature even more than I thought I had done before. 

April's theme (in line with it being Spring/ Easter) will be: Shades of Yellow!