The New Normal

If you’d have told me this time last year, I would be writing a blog talking about how I’ve spent the last 9 weeks stuck inside my home, I would’ve laughed at how ridiculous that was. But here I am, approaching my 10th week stuck inside my house doing exactly that.

It’s hard to believe, for most of us, that this has become our life, unable to see our family and friends, restrictions placed on when we can leave our house and where we can go. At the beginning, I struggled badly with stress and worry around the whole situation. I found out I’d have to isolate until the end of June at a minimum due to my brother’s disability, and the thought of being unable to leave my house until then scared me. But, as the days went on and I settled into a new routine, the days got easier and I found myself starting to somewhat enjoy my new life at home.

Finding things to keep myself busy has kept me going throughout this lockdown. I’ve been able to work on my own fashion portfolio, I’ve baked and cooked new things, I’ve excelled in pub quizzes and I may have spent a bit too much money on online shopping, but we all need a pick me up, don’t we? Even though this situation has brought so much negativity to our lives, it has also given me the time to spend with my family and focus on myself, two things which wouldn’t have normally happened.

Despite the worry I’ve felt, this new normal has opened up my eyes to the things I took for granted before, like being able to walk into a shop without the worry of who I was close to, or popping into my nana and grandad's house for a cup of tea, and even smaller things like going for a walk with my brother. These things seemed so simple before, and so easy for us to do but now they’ve been taken away from us we will never take them for granted again. It’s taught me that you need to live your life to the fullest, and take advantage of every and any opportunity thrown your way because you never truly know what the future will bring.

Coronavirus, as much as I hate what you’ve done to our country, thank you for opening my eyes and teaching me lessons I needed to hear