Day 95 – Reflections on Lock-Down

Wow – it’s Day 95, nearly into double figures!

Today I have had the ‘Friday Feeling’, less motivation to do so much work.  But I still did a good chunk, before my tiredness caught up with me!  Too much screen time this week, for me!

For that reason, I didn’t get to go on a long walk/run today with Honey the Dog, just two trips to Kate’s Park.  I am struggling to take any new new photos that you haven’t seen!

I was talking to Kate this morning in Kate’s Park about how hard it is to live and work from home, I’ve always found that being self-employed.  When I first became self-employed, I spent the first 18 months working from home and really struggled with keeping my mind and energy in a ‘work mode’ throughout the day and week.  I then discovered The Melting Pot, an office space that I have used ever since.  Over the years I haven’t used it for all my work, but great to travel there early afternoon to change my work environment and with the energy from travelling there get loads done.  I found that as I am paying for the space, the motivation to actually work when there, without getting distracted is so much easier.

But with lock-down we have no choice but to work all the time at home!  Some people go to local cafes to do work, but of course cafes are currently just for take-away, so we can’t do that either.

What Kate was saying, which is so true, is that even by just putting on your “work clothes” puts you in a mindset of being at work.  She talked about her son, who explained it really well, he said “even if you are hating being in trousers, scratchy shirt and tie at school you know you are there to work”, or something to those words!

It’s true, we have “work clothes” and casual clothes.  When I dress up as a magician, I go into a different role.  I become upbeat, energised, outgoing, engaging, etc…even if I have no energy beforehand, once I am in those clothes, my energy comes, because I am at work.

I think also moving to a different place to work is really helpful as well, rather than just working in the same environment, our homes!

We are all adjusting to different ways of working in lock-down and although we are easing out of it all, I get a sense that a lot of us will be working from home for quite a few months to come!

What do you think?  Can you relate to that?

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Poetry Corner

No contributions from anyone else for a poem, so here is another of my own that I wrote during my mental health nurse training.

This poem is written for my friend, Nuala.

It was written in a lecture after lunch, all in the lecture theatre.  Before lunch, Nuala had been talking about a guy she had met who was foreign.  The lecture didn’t seem to have much content or interest for a poem.  So I wrote this poem, as if Nuala was talking about the first time she met this guy.  I put a little twist at the end, just for fun!

Hope you enjoy it.

Love at First Sight

I opened the door and our eyes met,
I felt a tingling in my legs, an ache in my heart.
I walked over towards him and sat at his desk,
And knew he was for me, as I fell in love.

His voice was a dream, with a slight accent,
His eyes dark blue, made you feel like heaven.
His lips slightly wet, I longed to kiss,
His hands just perfect, resting on the desk.

As he asked me questions he smiled at me,
I knew he liked me, after one long look.
I tried to stall him, as the ending approached,
I had to get his number and ask him out.

The end had arrived, yet I hadn’t asked,
I took a deep breath and blurted it out.
He said O.K. and we chatted for a while,
Arranging a date and place to meet.

I said goodbye and walked out the door,
Already missing him, longing till out date.
I turned and looked at the building he worked in,
In love with a Spanish man from Thomas Cook.

 

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Readers Corner

Nothing to include in here, everyone has been out in the sun or perhaps my readers are finding they have less time to submit as we are coming out of lock-down?

 

It Made Me Smile

My sister, Anna sent me this today, saying it made her smile.  If the photo is not big, you can click on it and see it full size.

It is a Facebook post, which you can find here – https://www.facebook.com/karen.collins.1840/posts/10158895414585798

Thanks for this Anna! 🙂

 

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Twenty-Five Day Push-Up Challenge

I nearly forgot to do this challenge today!  It was only when I came to write the blog and wondered what section was missing, that I remembered I hadn’t done my push-up challenge today!  I didn’t do so well today, perhaps at it was later in the evening and I wasn’t out and about on a walk/run with more energy?!

 

 

 

Matt

Matt just got into this section with his reply to my nomination, saying:

“I never get nominated for these things, Jim. So simultaneously l am feeling included but at the same time certain there is a week’s correspondence course to be able to learn to fulfil this commitment 😂”

Come on Matt, it’s for a good cause!  You know you want to do it 🙂

 

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As I come to the end of today’s blog, it is a short one!

The weather has been a lot cooler today, with heavy rain and thunderstorms since the afternoon.  Honey and I just got caught in a heavy rain shower on our bedtime walk, with thunder rumbling in the distance.

When I was out and about today I was surprised to see many people sitting in buses not wearing any face-covering, in fact many bus drivers didn’t have any face-coverings either.  Also, I noticed taxi drivers not wearing them either.  It’s was on Monday, Day 91, that I thought the law came into force in Scotland that everyone had to wear a face-covering on public transport – bus, train, tram, Glasgow subway, ferries and taxi’s.

I must admit, I have not looked or read the news for most of this week, so perhaps this has changed?  I certainly read before Monday, that people would be refused travel if they didn’t have face-covering, but it seems that these rules are a lot less enforced.  Did the law include the drivers as well or not?  You would think, that unless drivers wore face-coverings they can’t really expect their passengers to do the same?!

I’ve just checked the Scottish Government website and it says some people are except – children and those with specific medical conditions.  I wonder, whether people get asked about their “specific medical condition”, if they get on without a face-covering or whether this would seem as an invasion of privacy?  Because I am sure many people would try and bend the rules to not wear face-coverings, if they can!  So perhaps, everyone I saw today had medical conditions and so didn’t have to wear them.  Who knows.  I’ll keep you posted!

I hope you’ve all had a good week.

Thanks for your continuous reading.

Lots of Love

Jim xx