Thursday 19 March:

Our first full day of self-isolation and it’s strange – almost unreal – to reflect that it was only this time last week that we were setting off to Oxford to celebrate Moira’s birthday.

So much seems to have changed in the past 7 days.

We feel relatively lucky. We’ll cope… but we’re also very aware of all those who are struggling and, for whom, things might only get worse over the coming weeks and months. I think the uncertainty about how long this virus will continue to affect our lives (and deaths?) only adds to the sense of unreality. If we knew ‘this’ was for, say, a month, then we could come to terms and adjust relatively easily… but what if this goes on until the Autumn… or this time next year... or even beyond that?

It feels somewhat ironic that, in these difficult times (and, remember, it’s Lent too), I feel very much as if I’m in a wilderness spiritually. I’ve been feeling like this for some months now… and I’m still searching for something that might provide support, focus and meaning. Trying to find suitable material (or inspiration) that might help me will be one of my ‘projects’.

We have a supermarket delivery due at the end of this week (just a routine order – no hoarding!) and we’ll endeavour to continue receiving these over the coming weeks… but, given the panic-buying/apparent hoarding mentality some people have demonstrated over recent days, one wonders if out ‘home delivery’ service will be able to cope.

Everyone seems, at long last, to have now realised the massive importance of doctors, nurses, NHS staff, food stores (including shelf-stackers!), people helping to maintain public utilities etc etc…

The important things in life.

We’re both aware of the need for us to establish routines that will help us cope over the coming weeks/months… walking; art (and other) projects; housework(!); morning coffee times; watching films; organising our reading (in my case, ensuring that I build in some ‘comfort reading’ that I know will lift my spirits); gardening (and actually sitting in the garden as the weather improves); sorting out our bookshelves (identifying books for re-cycling and perhaps coming across some we’d forgotten about); cooking; music (and composing new ‘playlists’); building in Skype/facetime sessions with family and friends (something I need to learn how to do!)… the list goes on (and that’s very healthy!).

Take care. Be kind.
Photo: 'Help Yourself Books' (around the corner from us in Greville Road).