Time To Emerge: Musings From Lockdown London

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It feels good to be writing an article about emerging from what has certainly been the darkest and wettest lockdown so far. I find my moods tethered to the weather more than they ever used to be.

Whenever the sun pops out you will see me sitting on the balcony hungry for warmth and vitamin D. The days have become slightly stale with the monotony – I have still enjoyed my work, my partner and friends, the dog, our walks and zooms but there is a muted stillness that hangs around. The hours between 6 and 8pm a wasteland posing the question: what are these hours for?

Bathing…

I have had more baths in the last 12 months than perhaps in the entire sum of the rest of my life and have discovered that a bath is a wonderful way to do something when there is nothing to do. I have also cooked things I would never have imagined – having signed up to one of those food kits that arrives every Monday saving you the effort of planning and shopping for a million ingredients. It’s a good system – and makes lockdown life a manageable culinary adventure.

Juicing…

I am also currently on my second 5-day juice cleanse. The first in January was a bit of a slog. This one is going much better and here on day three I am bouncing around with very little sustenance inside me but loads of energy. Well actually, to be honest, right now I am sitting in bed drinking a Lean Green juice and tapping out these thoughts. When you only have 3 rooms in your apartment, the bedroom becomes a great horizontal tertiary office space when you can’t imagine sitting on your Aeron any more.

And so we now start to imagine who we are beyond our little lockdown lives. What on earth will we do when we can do EVERYTHING? It is almost unimaginable.

What Now?

Yet it seems the world will be gradually easing restrictions and opening again. I find myself awash with questions: what have I learned? what will I do differently? what have I NOT missed? Will I still need my Barner screen glasses? How did I afford to eat out so often pre-pandemic? And, why am I not sitting on one of those mammoth piles of cash that economists keep talking about that is going to set ablaze the Roaring Twenties?

What I know I will take with me is a new world of appreciation for the little things in life that are so easy to take for granted until they are gone. I am sure there will be tears when we come together in the warmth of a family hug, there will be delight when we set sail or take off for foreign shores, and there will be exponential joy when we feel sand between our toes and smell the sweet scent of unknown lands.

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This lockdown has been long and hard and dark and wet, yet I remind myself that even in the depths of winter there is something new being born, a powerful process is at work, and the dying off of the old holds the potential of rebirth.

How have you been?

By Neil Seligman

Mindfulness and Conscious Leadership Expert, Neil Seligman is dedicated to delivering inspiring learning experiences and catalysing conscious creativity in all aspects of life and business.

Find out more: theconsciousprofessional.com