It's a Wonderful World

As we enter… week 9, week 10, who knows of lockdown here in the UK, I’m having to make a conscious effort to find a ‘good-feeling’ place and stay there. Some days are better than others; this weekend, for example, was not a good one, emotionally.

While I’ve never thought much of the lockdown from Day 1, I didn’t rail against it as I believed the government was doing its best with the limited information available.

But, as things have moved on, as more data has become available, I do not understand why it’s continuing. The reasons for continuing keep changing; as each ‘target’ is achieved, another one pops up in its place.

Here in the UK, the virus peaked early April and whichever chart one looks at, it shows the virus on its way out. A fact that’s been stated by Professor Adrian Hill who’s working on a potential vaccine at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group – according to him, the virus is disappearing so fast, the vaccine they’re working on has only a 50% chance of working.

When YouTube started removing content which it says contradicts the World Health Organisation on Covid-19, that only made me question the official line more. Especially as the WHO can’t seem to make up its own mind where the virus is concerned. On January 14th, WHO tweeted that Chinese health officials claimed there had been no human transmissions of the virus; about 2 months later, WHO declared Covid-19 to be a global pandemic.

At this point, the supposed cure of which lockdown is a big part, has become worse than the virus itself. Operations postponed; cancers, heart disease and other diseases not being diagnosed, leading to fears of a rise in these deaths; jobs on the line; economies tanking; suicides and abuse on the rise; children losing out on education; the prospect of, literally, millions of people dying of starvation in Third World countries…

I read an article today in the Daily Telegraph about a rise in the number of elderly people attempting suicide. According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, “suicide attempts by elderly people have increased as much as six-fold during the coronavirus crisis because of depression and anxiety from their social isolation”.

When others accuse people who believe as I do of ‘wanting old people to die’ or putting money before health, that makes me angry. It is possible to put measures in place that protect the elderly and vulnerable while allowing the rest of us – those who aren’t in the ‘at risk’ groups – to carry on with life.

Without money, without a working economy, health takes a nosedive. As economist Mike Schussler said, “It’s not lives versus the economy, it’s lives versus lives.”

And let’s not forget the restrictions on our civil liberties. I’ve found it most disheartening how easily, how readily too many people have relinquished freedoms.

For me, personally, this lockdown has left me with no way to earn an income.

For my children – who are among the lucky ones who can still work and earn, even though Liam only has the one part-time job now – they spoke at length this weekend about their frustrations and worries… about their future; the possibility of meeting potential partners; wondering just how awful a price their generation and those following will have to pay for this lockdown…

There’s constant talk of needing to maintain ‘social distancing’. How will businesses, especially in the food and entertainment industries, cope, let alone survive? How will relationships thrive?

It breaks my heart and fills me with dread, reading how things are going to be in schools. Children being kept in classrooms with little or no moving around, set toilet times (good luck ‘enforcing’ that with little ones!), no playing with friends, no touching play equipment, hardly any toys for the little ones, surrounded by adults who’ll most likely be wearing masks… How are they going to learn social skills? Exactly what life lessons are they going to take from this?

Life is about living and having fun. Going out for a meal, to the cinema, a museum, the theatre, a concert – that’s part of what makes life fun. And another part of life is ‘risk’. We can never live in a 100% completely safe world. Awful things have happened before. Yet, the world has never reacted like this before, shutting everything down, shutting everyone away, waiting for things to ‘be safe’ once again.

I might be in an ‘at risk’ group, being a chubby Asian in my mid-50s. But, instead of ‘stay safe’, I would much rather ‘stay free’ and exercise the responsibility that comes with that freedom instead of being treated like a child who needs to be cocooned against a supposed big, bad monster.

And for any who might accuse me of being selfish and possibly endangering others – those others will also have the freedom to choose to stay home and isolate themselves.

After all that, you’re probably wondering why I titled this post, ‘It’s a Wonderful World’. That’s because it is. And taking the time to be very aware of that is what helps me stay in a ‘good-feeling’ place.

These photos were taken over the past couple of weeks, in my garden and in the field and stable of the horse that Liam looks after…

As I hurt my back a few weeks ago and haven’t done anything in the garden, it’s reverting to a little jungle, much to the delight of the cats. But there’s still some splashes of colour…

These flowers are over the stable roof…

A rose in my garden; it’s only ever one that blooms.

These deer were in the field right next to the one where the horse is. They look as surprised as we were.

To finish, here’s a little video I took a couple of weeks back of Liam walking his charge back to the stables; I love the sound of a horse walking along…