Survival the key to beating lockdown blues

IT’S okay to say you like not having to do anything, that being locked down, with nowhere to go and nothing to do, suits you just fine. And it’s perfectly acceptable to state you’ve spent much of the past year just sort of ‘pottering about’, aimlessly wandering from room to room, having little naps on the couch, grazing on bits of cake, living, to all intents and purposes, like a cat.

It’s grand, I’ve done the same. However, not everyone is like us, some people are of the opinion we should be using this time to learn new skills, grow as a person, reflect on life, things like that.

And although they won’t come out and say it, those people secretly believe they’re better than us because of all the ‘stuff’ they’ve done since the pandemic began.

Of course, it started with the banana bread. If you weren’t making banana bread last year then you basically failed Lockdown I.

Although that phenomenon ended as soon as it started there have been others, an entire litany of ideas and helpful activities to ensure we live our best lockdown lives.

These are just some of the activities I’ve heard suggested since this all began: redecorate your home, organise your wardrobe, learn a language, work out, paint, set goals, complete goals, grow herbs, eat herbs, practise mindfulness, get motivated, write letters, trace your family history, learn an instrument, read the complete works of William Shakespeare, read the complete works of Charles Dickens, read the classics, read, bake, start taking baths.

It’s as if, rather than simply being confined to our homes for a few extra hours, we’ve been sent to stay with Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin for the entire school holidays.

I know it’s well-meaning, that these recommendations are supposed to spark us into life, alleviate the boredom felt by both adults and kids, the depression and helplessness experienced by almost everyone.

Lately though, it’s been tipping in another direction, towards sanctimony.

The social media users, radio personalities, public figures, friends and family, who espouse these ideas have become a little overbearing, a tad supercilious.

It’s reached the point where I’ve begun to feel attacked, yes attacked, for not taking up a new pastime. Essentially I’m being lockdown-shamed and I’m not happy about it.

Since this began I haven’t really altered my day-to-day way of life, aside from working from home and not seeing the people I love, everything has stayed the same.

I’ve pottered, napped and grazed, gone for long walks, had little dances in the living-room and continued to stoically work on my second, as yet untitled, novel.

But now, just because we’re in a pandemic, I’m supposed to be doing something meaningful with my time.

When this is all over what will you tell people you did? That’s the big question at the moment. Well, if anyone asks me what I did, which I doubt they will, I’ll tell them I watched Seinfeld in its entirety and bought tubs of Celebrations for €2.80 in the middle of January.

And let me tell you, each episode of Seinfeld, each Celebration, was meaningful in its own special way.

Fortunately, I pay little heed to the lockdown-shamers, as soon as this is over they’ll go back to doing whatever it was they did before, leaving the rest of us to wallow in our squalor with as much dignity as we can muster.

Yet not everyone is as pig-headed as us, for some the sight of meditating herb-growers eating chunks of banana bread will instil feelings of inadequacy, a sense of shame, a feeling they should be doing more with their lockdown.

We know the impact this is having on our mental health, the increase in anxiety and depression across society. The intimation that we should use our time indoors for self-fulfilment might appear harmless, but with each list of ‘The Best 20 Ways to Spend Lockdown’ a little voice grows louder.

That voice gently chides you for spending another evening on the couch, tut tuts when you start your working day in your pyjamas, and clears its throat irritably if you go 48 hours without getting some fresh air.

Don’t listen to the voice, do as you please, and when people ask you what you did during lockdown, tell them ‘whatever it took to survive’.