383: The Lockdown Conundrum

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

I like living my life in a world under lockdown, am I weird?

My wife told me this morning that she doesn’t want to leave the house to go to work. I watched as she became anxious at the thought of having to work in less than ideal conditions. By the time I dropped her off, mild panic had set in.

We are one of the many families in the UK that do not have a choice but to go back to work. My wife’s salary is the only income we have. We are making a course correction by way of resurrecting a small business that we put on the shelf a few years ago. As our business develops we will look at reducing the hours that my wife works.

A happy side effect of being in lockdown is that all the expected social norms have changed. I don’t have to do what others want or expect me to do. I now spend time on personal projects. I have caught up with books and movies. I can stay hidden behind closed doors without having to answer to anyone but my immediate family.

I get frustrated by people that think we should get back to normal as soon as possible. They don’t seem to realise that the world has changed forever. We all need to find ways to make a living without having to expose ourselves to a deadly virus. Working from home is a start.

Luckily we homeschool our son and have done since the start of 2020. He is getting on fine, although he does miss being able to meet up with his friends at the skatepark.

So, what to do? I want to stay behind locked doors as much as possible, only going out into the world when it suits me and my family. It feels like now is the time to make these changes, before it is too late.

That is all.