# Good Friday, the start of the long Easter weekend and, as always, if feels like a Saturday. The weather is supposed to be really nice today and tomorrow and in normal circumstances we would be planning days out, maybe heading to the coast for lunch. But things are far from normal - for us, for everyone. It's day 5 of isolation so we're not going anywhere for a while yet.
It gives us something to look forward to once all this is over, we will all be able to delight in simple pleasures that we previously took for granted. It should create a change in mindset that helps us plot a different course and the longer lockdown continues the deeper that change should be.
Yet, even with all the restrictions in place, you just know there are going to be those who will flout the rules, who will thing that they're above it all. I'm not sure if it's just bloody-minded selfishness or stupidity or both.
Before isolation we were weighing the risk and ramifications of every trip we had to make, trying to shop in places with lower footfall and being extra careful wherever we went in spite of others who only paid lip service to, or outright ignored, social distancing guidelines. We're not perfect, I'm not trying to insinuate anything of the sort, but the difference between someone trying to do the right thing and not is as clear as night and day.
As is evidenced by our daughter it doesn't matter how careful you are, you can still catch the virus. Fortunately, she is on the road to recovery, the symptoms are easing and her fever mostly broken. After just a few short days she is already a completely different person to how she was on Tuesday. The sense of relief is truly palpable. She's got a way to go yet but the worst seems to be behind her.
These experiences can make us realise that we should be living life to the full but that doesn't mean to excess. There is a massive distinction there.
Ironically, we have been eating better since lockdown started with a wider variety of meals. Maybe there's a bit more time to think about it all, perhaps we are being more considered in what we buy and eat to ensure sufficient diversity. Or maybe we're just not as rushed and resorting to quick fixes. Hopefully that can continue.
I think these trying times can also help teach us the importance of each moment. We look forward to our freedoms returning but there is no timetable for all of this, no end scheduled, so we live in ongoing uncertainty. All we really have is the here (literally) and now. We have to learn to make the most of it and that can, hopefully, carry over into life after lockdown.
# What do you do when you can't sleep at 4am? Adjust CSS on the Daily page of course.
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# I just read this in Silence and thought it followed on nicely from my earlier post:
"You are determined not to waste your twenty-four hours, because you know that those twenty-four hours are a gift of life, and you receive that gift anew every morning." - Thich Nhat Hanh
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I think that the "succession" should result in a "development of an idea".
I agree.
As the little ideas build and iterate they are, no doubt, working towards something bigger, something more complete and whole. Still, I place no time limit on this, have no expectations of ever reaching an answer or conclusion.
Indeed, I am well aware that my position may change over time, maybe become a contradiction to where I started. A journey isn't always linear, there may never be a destination, an end point at which we can say "Eureka!" Sometimes the journey itself is enough, the cumulative experience is sufficient to satisfy without requiring closure.
It can, however, be frustrating both for the creator and the consumer; we can feel cheated when we expect this progression to lead somewhere, to provide the key to unlock knowledge or wisdom.
We have to accept that there are not always answers or solutions, only learning, realisation and growth.
Perhaps that is the best answer of all.
@colinwalker best thing to do!