Day 55 – What I have learned during Isolation

I have had plenty of time for reflection over the past two months.

More than ever, I realise how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away. I think about my family and friends every day and pray for their safety, and am grateful every night when I can go to sleep without fear or grief.

I have also learned a lot about myself, my motivations and the way my mind and body works:

• The new-fangled washing capsule boxes? I can’t bloody open them
• I’m far more introvert than I thought…it takes a lot of energy for me make contact with people…
• …but once I do, I feel energised and happy
• I really do like cooking (and I’m not a bad baker when I concentrate)
• Some people are selfish arseholes
• Some people are just ignorant
• I go through a lot of knickers in one week (what’s that all about?)
• Cycling is awesome fun AND exercise
• A fly can die by hitting my cheek at a great speed (try saying that after a couple of gins)
• I am glad you only get 5 lives in Candy Crush
• The difference between cow parsley and (poisonous) hemlock is that the latter has a smooth stalk and the former has a celery-like stalk
• I have to make spare time when all this is over
• We can get a kebab and cheesy chips delivered to our remote location!
• It takes a lot of precision and patience to layer lasagne with pasta twirls (damn the Co-op for running out of pasta sheets!)
• I am even more grateful for the NHS than I was before

Tonight I will be lighting a candle for all the nurses of the world.

I will say thanks to every medical professional, carer, teacher and nursery worker, vet and farmer; the essential workers who help us live our daily lives such as shop workers, delivery drivers, cleaners and refuse collectors; and those in the police and fire service who keep us safe.