My Pro’s and Con’s Of Lockdown 2020

Ew….I can’t believe things are actually returning to normal now? Says the woman who did NOT want anything to change. Funny that…

No one really anticipated what life fast forward 3-4 months would look like, but now that we’re here, I’m finding that a lot of us aren’t too keen on the inevitabilities. Going back to work, waking up early, spending money we never thought we’d see each month…the little everyday normal things that we could really actually do without.

I don’t actually want to talk about COVID – we all know what it is. And if you don’t, ummm where you been lol? But I do want to talk about things that I have noticed, liked, disliked and so on.

Firstly I think we can all agree that this ‘lockdown’ period made us all slow down. So slow that I would literally crawl to the kitchen and back to my bed again and mysteriously call it a days exercise. Whether we were working from home or furloughed, or even working as normal as a keyworker, our routines went into a sort of slow motion, a motion that I now thoroughly enjoy. Waking up later than our usual alarms, being able to eat breakfast rather than inhale it, respond to emails in front of the TV… the relaxation that seeped its way into our new routines really made a difference. For some it was distracting and not wholly productive, but for others this way of life has made us feel a whole lot better about ourselves and what we want from a work life balance.

Here are some other things that I have thought of since lockdown:

Pro’s:
More money: I filled my car up on the 19th March and didn’t need to refil until June. I usually buy petrol every 5-7 days so this was absolutely absurd. Along with saving money on takeaways to not being able to treat ourselves with nail and hair appointments, the extra money has been a Godsend. I’ve saved loads, I’ve spent loads and do not feel any type of way about it. I’m currently waiting for my LV to arrive eeee.
Genuine connections: Yes as women we can all collectively agree we’ve had some horrors in our DMs since the start of lockdown, but overall, we’ve realised who we enjoy talking to. That’s not to say the friends we haven’t spoken to everyday clearly aren’t our pals, but it’s been nice to see who has wanted to contact us during a time where it’s fair to say that everyone has deserved to prioritise themselves and their situations.
Simple pleasures: Who knew that we all loved the park so much? I didn’t even realise London had so many…
Time: Just….time. Time to watch a new series. Time to cook something new. Time to draft up that business plan. Whatever it is…we’ve had time.

Con’s:
Realisations: I’ve realised that I am a control freak. Lockdown made me feel better that I knew where certain people were, and what they were doing for the most part. It was easier to control an outcome. Now that life is slowly returning to normal I feel anxious my grip on control is slowly loosening, and that I will have to accept not being on top of things. It’s a habit I’ve clearly harboured many years and probably utilised during past relationships. It’s definitely not healthy but I’m going to miss it, a lot…
Uncertainty: Goes without saying. Job losses, illness and death, economy going to shit…there’s been a lot of uncertainty which has had people up late at night not knowing what the next week will entail.
Stockholm Syndrome: I mean it’s not technically, but it kinda is. We got used to the bondage. COVID being our captors we found comfort in chaos and now the chaos is gone we’re a little bit lost and confused.
Complacency: Now this may change as time goes on, but I slightly worry that I’m so used to this ‘bubble’ now that I won’t care for many social things I once cared for. And will we regret that in years to come? Our twenties and thirties are our prime times and throwing out half of the things we used to enjoy because we no longer can be bothered to do it may re-shape many of our personalities or way of life.

One thing I also don’t like is feeling guilty. I haven’t really done much apart from survive one day to the next and I know I could’ve done more. It takes a mere 4 weeks to transform your body with the right tools and I’ve had about 13 weeks to try it…I’m still here with a fupa. I’ve barely blogged (lol) and I haven’t prepared or planned for my future considering how eye opening this phase of life has been. But I guess that is the beauty of life itself, right? We just don’t know what’s going to happen, or how we’ll deal with it. And all we can do is tackle it head on and then smile that we survived it regardless.

Let me know what your pro’s and con’s of lockdown have been! I know we will have shared many, but be interesting to read some of your more personal or intimate ones. Ciao <3