Lockdown life has been like living life in a bubble, that bubble is about to burst.
The last few months have been strange, to say the very least. Without wandering into political agendas or conspiracy theory, for the first time in history, besides times of war, society has been closed down and we have been forced to isolate ourselves away, at all costs.
Indeed, the costs of lockdown are now starting to be felt across the country in terms of damage done to people's mental health, financial health and their physical health.
The talk of 'bubbles' has emerged recently, as a feasible option to balance the loneliness and isolation of certain individuals, and as a piece of imagery, it works quite well.
We have all been living in our little bubbles for several months now. For some those bubbles have been living hell, for others a welcome respite from the pressures of normal life. Everyone has experienced their bubbles in different ways and will experience the future beyond this situation in their own unique ways too.
For me though, and with my business abruptly halted for over three months, and two young kids at home, I quickly learnt that worry and stress wasn't going to help make this situation any better. I had no choice but to let go and sit it out, and make the very best of what this opportunity presented to me. That meant an opportunity to be creative, to write, to work on side projects that I hadn't got round to doing beforehand, it allowed me to spend precious time with my family, take daily walks, catch up on reading. So, all in all, it has been a weird time but not necessarily a bad time.
We all learn to create a new reality and steadily get used to it, until it becomes our new version of life. And, even when it's a very different existence, we begin to feel safe and secure within this new reality. The old world that we once knew now feels alien and even a bit scary.
Over recent weeks the relaxed lockdown measures have seen life start to return to what we might have once called 'normal', and with that the safety of our new little bubbles becomes threatened again. We are nudged to embrace change, and it can feel uncomfortable at first, just like it did at the start of all this when our worlds initially felt threatened. Our bubbles are bursting, some people faster than others, but we can see the change happening. Pop! Pop! Pop!
Humans are adaptable though, and as long as we can sit tight and accept these periods of transition, however uncomfortable they may feel, we will come through and find a new way of living. This is the process of life. Change. Adapt. Change. Adapt.
Nothing is solid.
Nothing lasts forever.
This too shall pass.
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