As circumstances and the things around us change – it is inevitable the things we look at change. Whether we are the ones who make those changes or they’re completely external, it doesn’t matter. We still have the final word. The final choice. Not necessarily to change a global pandemic and all the shit it brought with it, but to choose what to do with the NOW. YOU. What can YOU do given the current situation (doesn’t matter how shitty or wonderful) NOW! To fight against, go into panic mode, wait for someone to sort it all out for you, go with the flow and do what everyone else does, denial… Or all of the above all at once? I’ve had a bit of everything go through my emotions at different stages of the pandemic and that’s OK. We weren’t given a manual on how to deal with deadly global viruses when we were born, nor is anyone fully equipped to just “stay chill” whilst the world is in a complete reformation, I believe. But we’re here. We’ve learnt and learning. Adapting. Surviving and doing what we can to make this as easy as possible on ourselves and our closest. Below are just some of the things that Covid taught me so far:
1) Freedom – what it really is.
I never realised how much freedom we all had until it was taken away from us during lockdown. What I also realised is how much of that freedom and our precious free time we used to give away and spend on ” things” and “experiences” socially constructed to essentially control us and what we do with our time. We thought we were all “free” to do what we wanted before lockdown, but it’s only during lockdown I’ve realised the true meaning of personal ungoverned choices. As always, I’ll speak for myself here by giving you an example. We moved to the West End of Glasgow to be closer to Sasha’s school mainly, but to also have access to all the things that the prestigious area had to offer. Bars, cafes, parks, restaurants, baby groups, galleries, the “West End” badge / status (!?)… Then Covid happened and BOOM – none of those things mattered. Zero. The human needs and wants were stripped down to their basics and we simply craved what always brought joy to our hearts – Nature, water, woods, being outside… This realisation and the fact that our whole family was in sync with those emotions and needs made us even stronger. We decided to move from our flat closer to Loch Lomond and are now feeling far less controlled, stressed and anxious being so close to Nature. Free to explore, touch wood (literally) and just breathe.
2) The Power of “external” things.
They (the wise ones) always say that happiness comes from within. You “should” be already happy inside before allowing for external things to control your happiness. I beg to disagree. To some degree. During lockdown whilst we are all stuck inside our homes (the lucky ones) and inside ourselves confused and scared AF – the things that kept me “sane” or brought me some sort of joy were external things. Apart from my kids, our unconditional love and eternal gratitude for our health and each other of course. But the majority of the time I’ve had to look outside of myself to cope. Food, wine, exercise, clothes, red lipstick, the blossoming trees from my window, more food, social media… Did I turn to those things to reach for a better feeling? Yes. Did they improve my mood? Yes. Full stop.
3) How much I love my work.
I’ve always been grateful and lucky to work from home and be flexible, but Covid really opened up my eyes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I work in the best industry. Some call it bitchy, but when the shit hit the fan we all united. We supported each other by working for free using our platforms. We reached out to each other and our contacts making sure everyone was safe and OK. We gave extra value and support to those in need. We donated. We lifted. We empowered. Yes, some of us were badly affected and financially f….d, but we still created, shared, spoke the truth, influenced the right way and remained positive. We helped some, we encouraged each other and we are pulling through adapting to the new industry if you like. But together. Even those who completely lost all will and motivation to keep going and create are finding new ways to shine again. And I love seeing that.
There are probably so many other lessons learnt during lockdown that are now part of the newer me, but I’ll leave you with the most important ones.
How about you? Would LOVE to learn what Covid taught you until now. Do let me know in the comments below and HUHE VIRTUAL HUGS to all off you for getting this far and being so strong!
Tatyana x
Wearing Wallis top and Wallis shoes as part of a paid Instagram campaign. Wanted to share these Summery images here with you too.
Shoes – HERE* (£20)
Top – HERE* (£22.40)