Surviving in the new normal

Good morning chickens!

Holy Moses, do you know we are now in day 22 of our personal isolation and into week 2 of NZ’s full country lockdown – I cannot believe how quickly things have escalated and I have to admit I have been arrogant to the severity of the matter for months when we were still in our bubble, traveling and staying as happy as positive as we could.
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However, since my last morbidly depressing memoir, I have to say things have taken a dramatic turn. I am still working – WAYHEY – albeit on a much less successful manner (shockingly being in International sales within the Tourism industry in a country where we have a closed border, isn't going very well). I managed to get the Governments grant which I cannot be more pleased/grateful/happy/relieved about, and we are living happily at my family’s place, getting stuck into making this new normal work for us as best we can. I would say so far, it’s being a success. Leo even managed to snag a job during this bloody disaster and for that I could not be prouder! 

I believe in order to make this lock-down work successfully and to stamp out COVID-19, is really to follow the advice of our PM and ‘’stay home to save lives’’.  My heart breaks every time I watch the news about Italy, Spain or the UK as their Governments simply didn’t act fast enough and now, they are facing an absolute irreversible disaster.
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We have taken to working out a lot, eating as healthy as we can – with daily treats as we are in lock-down and I like ice-cream WAAAAY too much to cut that happiness out my life; and for me I have found a fantastic method of staying sane is to listen to podcasts. Everyday we have a routine, and through this, watching reruns of MasterChef, walking around the block (which I am so lucky is truly stunning) and being creative, we really have managed to work well together into our little bubble of happiness. 

​Just before lockdown I also managed to get my hands on a small electric hob so I can cook - which has been a true lifesaver. I have missed the kitchen so much this past year so now I can cook up a healthy feast each night while we get our 1 daily helping of the news. I must admit, this lockdown has kept me off social media which I have found to heal the soul. We watch the 6pm news daily, simply to check in and see what’s going on, but I try not to follow the social media bullshit news and all the keyboard terrorists who after watching a few episodes of ER are now fully trained medical professionals, IT DOES MY FUCKING HEAD IN. It’s very simple, stay the fuck at home, follow the guidelines and stop pretending to know best. 

The past 2 weeks have seriously taught me to re-evaluate the important things in life, and as much as we already live the life of minimalism, I feel we can take it one step further as my want to buy anything bar food has disappeared completely. I have found to appreciate the smallest things, like walking, reading, writing and being launched into the creative space as an outlet for my anxiety. If there was ever a time to be anxious then it is now, so I feel I can take advantage of this and when most are battling this new feeling, I am simply just living the day to day norm. 

This prolonged time with my own thoughts have also made me re-assess what I actually want for life and made me question what I felt I wanted before, and whether I still do long for these things? This goes for employment, career goals, personal goals and all the other self-improvement mumbo jumbo I have found myself caring so much about in the past.
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A question that I think everyone has been guilty of asking during this hideous time is, 'Do we need to take this time to be as productive as possible?' Or, is it simply fine to watch the new season of the Hills/ Tiger King/ Married at first sight back to back and just try to enjoy being present, removing those terrified thoughts and worry?

Who knows the real answer but I feel in this lock down we are already thriving to just simply exist in this new normal so having to really push ourselves into something new may well be overwhelming.

Overall, do what makes you happy guys because at the end of the day, you have to take care of number 1.