Closing in

We’ve had to remain in self-isolation  for the last two weeks and can emerge from it tomorrow.

 

Other than not being able to leave the house, I’m not isolated in any real sense. I have company, I work full-time, I’m well connected with friends and into social networks, I’ve got plenty of time to make music and I’m having a lot of contact with people which I’m enjoying very much. In practical terms, we’ve had plenty of food as my street has excellent systems for sharing shopping trips, I’m very lucky to have a job that continues through lockdown and to live in an uncramped  house with a garden. Oh yes, and I am not ill.

 

While I’m adapting to the lockdown and working hard to develop my own routines as a means of taking charge and owning my response to it, I am constantly reminded that a restricted lifestyle doesn’t suit me at all. That sounds obvious, but I know a few people who have a very different relationship to isolation and are enjoying it.

 

I’ve spent my whole life learning to live as fully in the world as I can, adapting to it, campaigning to make it more accessible to disabled people, encouraging and helping people/organisations/systems to adapt and open themselves up. I am glad that I’m not responding easily to my world closing in.

 

This is not to say that I am mounting a personal resistance to the lockdown or have cynicism about the need for it,  far from it. However, while I’m managing it in my life and trying to make the most of it (whatever that means), there is nothing about it that I like or enjoy.

 

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