Day 45 – Reflections on Lock-Down

This morning I woke up listening to Chris Evans on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show he was telling a long story, that caught my attention about Live Aid in 1985, describing how all the bands were given 15 minutes to play, except Bowie who had 20 minutes.  Most the bands were still getting themselves established and were really nervous knowing they were playing to the whole world.  Plus, having to watch their time and keep to the allocated 15 minutes, it was really nerve racking.  As they came off stage and headed backstage, a photographer was taking all their photos.

Despite not going to bed until 2am, due to not starting the blog until after 11pm, and not getting to sleep until 2.30am – I was wide awake caught in Chris’ Evans story at 7.30am!  Wondering what was the point of it.

It turned out he has created a silent auction to raise money for the NHS.  There’s loads of memorabilia on it, lots of things Chris Evans is giving away (looks like he is having a clear-out) AND all those photos taken backstage at Live Aid.

As I write this, there is still 24 hours to go with the silent auction and currently has raised nearly £300,000.

You can check it out – https://portal.bid-ingroup.com/WebBidInApp/27CA35C3-D907-42F6-91DA-838D7C4F86A0/auction

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I felt really excited this morning.  Not sure why – maybe it was because I was living on adrenaline due to being so sleep deprived?

It was a warmish day today – cloudy this morning, but the sun came out late afternoon.

My day was pretty much the same, as any other day.  I enjoy having a regular routine – Walk Honey, Breakfast, Chi Gong, catch-up on emails, etc…do a bit of work, go for a walk in the afternoon (well today it was a run), have some time on the sofa, cook dinner, Chi Gong, then write this blog.  Well this evening, I did some video editing of Majk Stokes album launch.  AND the Ear Shop was open – so Honey got an ear, which she was super happy about 🙂

Arthur’s Seat was quieter today.  But Easter Road was even busier.  There seems to be so many people out and about on the streets.  So many more people, than in the daytime outwith lock-down.  But also so many cars, many driving way to fast.

It is impossible to socially distant on Easter Road.  No longer able to step into the road to avoid people, due to there being so much traffic.  Plus, often driving too fast.  Plus, many people don’t seem bothered about social distancing from others.  It’s as if lock-down is over.

I noticed a few cafes with shutters half open – I peered in one and saw they had stripped the whole inside out and were putting in new structures – I guess, soon to open with social distance measures.  There was even some kind of re-building inside a pub.

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A couple things that I really liked which I saw on Facebook/internet today, that I want to share.

Firstly this great picture, which was on Fi’s Facebook Page.  With the lovely quote:

“I can’t wait till this is all over and we can go back to normal””

“What if we went forward instead?”

This reminds me of when I worked in the mental health field.  I used to specialise in the area of ‘mental health recovery’.

Mental health services are often focused on finding ways for people to overcome their mental health problems, so they can return to “normal”.

But often people who develop mental health problems and get into a ‘crisis’ is because the way they have been living / functioning in the world is not working for them – hence why they have ended up in ‘crisis’.

Mental health recovery, involves making sense of what has happened, reviewing one’s life by looking at one’s life story until now, then finding ways to change and moving forward to a different life, where one can live ‘well’ and have a toolkit to cope if the mental health problems arise again.

It’s actually what we do in our lives generally – if it’s a relationship breakup, bereavement or physical health problem.

This is exactly the same with where we are in the world and that picture.  The world has come into ‘crisis’ – covid-19 – and instead of returning to how life was before, we need to review where we have been, so we can move forward and change the way we have been living to ensure mother earth is nurtured by us – not destroyed.

As I wrote in Day 4 of this blog, quoting Chris Evans:

“I don’t want the world to return to how it used to be.  The world was broken.  There’s been a pause.  There needs to be change…”

 

The other picture that caught my attention today was a new piece of artwork by Banksy that appeared at Southampton Hospital.

This reminds me of when I worked as a mental health nurse.  One of the most commonest things people would say to me, who did not work in healthcare, was “of course you are not doing your job for the money, but because it is a vocation”.   This would really annoy me, because it felt so patrionising.  Often the conversation would lead onto leaving me feeling disrespected in what I did for a living, as if it wasn’t that important in the world.

But since Covid-19, perceptions have shifted so much.  The NHS is the hero.  Doctors, nurses, healthcare workers now have so much more respect.  Rainbows are everywhere in support of the NHS.  Every week we clap for all NHS workers.  Captain Tom Moore raised over thirty-two million pounds for the NHS.  Chris Evans currently has his silent auction to raise money for the NHS.

In Day 4 of this blog I wrote about Chris Evans suggesting we clapped for every ambulance we see passing by.  Ambulances now have a total different social status.

In just 45 days, that’s 6 weeks – there’s been a massive shift in supporting the NHS.  After years and years of cuts in the NHS – now we are all respecting the NHS as the best in the world!

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Readers Corner

Wow – I had so many lovely responses today about yesterdays blog.  I sometimes spend all day putting a blog together.  Yesterday, I just wrote as my thoughts flow.  I can touch type at 55 words a minute.  So often just type as my thoughts flow and then correct the typos, etc…afterwards (although I have noticed I do miss some!).  Yesterday’s blog was pretty much that.  Instead of trying to compile something more meaningful with a theme!

 

Anna

My sister, Anna, shared something on Facebook, which came via her friend Lettie.

It is a video of Medical staff practicing QiGong with coronavirus patients in Wuhan.  QiGong is the same as the Chi Gong Sessions that I run twice a day (just a different spelling).

Check it out below:

 

 

Colin

Colin works for Inspiring Leith, which does some amazing work in Leith – developing projects and supporting people.  During Covid-19, they provide telephone support for people, signpost people to get help they need and can even provide access to counsellors/psychologists.  This is what Colin has told me, I think (apologies if I’ve got this wrong!).

I know Colin through Dalmeny Street Park, where I walk Honey the Dog.  I have been part of a community group for nearly a year, which is trying to improve the conditions of the park for everyone who uses it.  Colin is part of this group.

Colin wrote a comment at the bottom of yesterdays blog:

“Lovely blog today Jim. Thanks.”.

Thanks for that Colin, glad you enjoyed it.

 

Pat

You will have heard about Pat/Patrick before.  He commented on yesterday’s blog on Facebook:

“Lovely Read Again..You Speak About How Things Seem To Be Going Back To “Normal”.. I Have To Say That Through This Way It Changed A little But In The Last Two Weeks It Seems That People Are Thinking With The Attitude “It’s Not Effecting Me” And The Streets And Bicycle Path Are Busier Than They Have Been…. Stay Well And Stay Safe My Friend….☘️☘️☘️☘️”

Thanks for that Pat.  Pat lives in Glasgow area.  As he says, it seems that everyone has forgotten that we are in lock-down, when actually nothing has changed.

 

Matt

Matt is based in Birmingham and has also appeared a number of times in Readers Corner.  Matt wrote on a Facebook comment:

“You’ve got a lone piper atop a hill, Jim. We’ve got Yam Yam Elvis singing out of his garage in Willenhall! 🤣 To be fair, he made it onto 5live a few weeks back as he’s singing every Thursday evening in tribute to key workers.”

And later tonight, messaged me to say:

“This is the legendary Yam Yam Elvis performing this evening again, Jim!”

When I asked if I could share this in Readers Corner, he replied:

“Yes, more of the world needs to know of this man!”

Thanks Matt for sharing – indeed Yam Yam Elvis is someone we need to know about.  Check out the Facebook post below:

 

 

Aileen

Aileen is also a regular in Readers Corner.  She commented on Facebook about yesterdays blog:

“I heard the piper a few days ago but never saw him, it’s so magical and reminds you that you’re in Scotland 😄 shame the sky isn’t so blue today.”

Thanks Aileen.  I didn’t realise the piper was a regular occurrence!

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As I come to the end of today’s blog, I reflect on all that I have written.  What do we need to do to move forward together.

The one thing that I have been thinking about for a few days, is the difference between cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

The general hierarchy is that cars are at the top as they can cause us serious injury if they hit us.  Then there are cyclists.  Then there are pedestrians.  Yet with social distancing, we need everyone to be equal.

A couple of years ago I was at a Scottish Green Party Spring Conference.  I went to a workshop about rolling out 20 MPH speed limits across the whole of Scotland.  In the last year or so (or is it longer?) 20 MPH is the speed in most roads in Edinburgh.  I didn’t quite get why this was so important.

Until it struck me – that we are all the same.  We are all people.  Whether we are behind the wheel of a car.  On a bicycle or walking.  We are all people.

The roads and streets should be accessible for everyone in a safe way.  So we can all enjoy being out and about.

20 MPH for cars and cyclists is important so we can cross the road, not being worried about being hit.  Cyclists need to stay on the road, not go on the pavement.

At present, on Easter Road and London Road (where I live) and even on the road that goes through Holyrood Park / Arthurs Seat.  Cars are often going way faster than 20 MPH – some seem more like 40 or 50 MPH.

In the early days of lock-down cars were going so slower.  Would slow down if I was crossing close to them, rather than speeding up like they have been doing for the last few days.

With so many people now walking – trying to maintain social distancing it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.

A ‘way forward’ after the pandemic would be that we all learn to respect each other equally on the roads, whether we are driving, cycling or walking.

So I would encourage any of you who are driving, especially in the streets where there are lots of people, to respect those who have chosen to walk and not drive.  And for cyclists to respect car drivers and pedestrians.  And pedestrians to respect their fellow cyclsits and car drivers.

Because ultimately we are all humans living together.  A way forward out of lock-down is learning to respect each other us equals, moving forward together to make the world a better place.

Thanks for reading.

Lots of Love

Jim xxx