My posts are usually art education related, and rightly so – I am no lifestyle blogger or whatever the term is. However, today I felt compelled to write and to share a more personal post…Maybe it is the extra time at home.

News came toady that Tate is closed until May. Whilst obviously not a necessity, in the same way that loo roll or pasta is, the gallery is an important space to many. I certainly take it for granted that I can ‘pop to Tate‘ whenever I want. Aside from the art viewing, I am a member there and I often setup shop for the day, with my laptop, in the lovely working space. It is an inspiring room to be in with panoramic views of London and lots of interesting people to observe in-between working.

The truth is, I am starting to feel embarrassingly aware that my life in 2020 London is very ‘blessed’. I am at liberty to see friends, dine out, visit galleries, go to yoga or for a swim and nip to the well-stocked shops whenever I need or want to. Covid-19 is impacting my precious little routines and freedoms and it is making me feel silly for taking them for granted in the first place.

Some of us, including me, live in relatively breezy times where the basics of life are fairly easy to navigate. Sometimes this means we have the luxury of embellishing our lives with extras that I for one will appreciate more, post Covid. For example, just last week I ordered three packs of rice malt syrup online  – because I had taken the ‘tough’ dietary decision to cut down on sugar – and they arrived the very next day. Flash forward to this week when the idea of queuing for toilet paper is becoming a reality.

I know things are not hard-hard now…or yet (especially compared with certain times in history or other places in the world) but I am starting to feel waves of deep recognition for the life I usually take for granted. Even when life is self inflicted sugar-free, it is very sweet.

I am social distancing as of Thursday last week – luckily a lot of my work can be done from home, although school visits and meetings have been postponed. Working from home is great but a lot of the things I rely on to boost my wellbeing and that I depend on if I do feel worried, are not possible right now. E.g. yoga classes, swimming, galleries and seeing friends and family. If you do have to work from home or self isolate, it can take some adjustment, especially when you are used to being busy and the comforting routines of school.

So, we adapt…

Intentions for social distancing (I appreciate I am in a position to…)

Set an alarm for every weekday

As per Julia Cameron  write ‘morning pages’

Walk almost every day in nature before I sit to do work on my laptop, or if not before then after or definitely the next day.  Hopefully most of us can find some place of greenery to walk in where it won’t be too hard to keep a distance from others

Speak with my family on the phone – and via WhatsApp –  much more regularly

Paint and draw

Experiment with baking

Work on those ‘projects’ that I never get time to

Meditate more – I practice Vedic or TM but there are lots of guided meditations out there, Ekhart Tolle is always good call

Do housey things  – sorting / cleaning / cooking / crafting etc.

Enjoy quality time at home

Be grateful  – not always easy but there is always something you can find to be grateful for and writing a list can be uplifting

Not feel bad about not being super busy