“I think you’re on mute!”
Nicky Wiltshire, one of our Trustees, shares her experiences of lockdown with us.
“It seems such a long time ago when I last visited the hospice in person back in early March, and much in the world has and continues to change for all of us.
At first, the terror seemed to come in waves. Would everyone be okay? How would our parents cope in isolation? What would happen to our jobs? When would things go back to normal? I still don’t know the answer to most of these questions…
However, in the middle of what is certainly the most stressful situation I’ve ever faced, my new normal did bring a couple of positives when I stopped to think about it too.
I spoke to my family and friends more often than I did before, and have somehow re-connected and re-established bonds that had perhaps fallen a little by the wayside in amongst the previous busyness of daily life.
Yes, admittedly in the first few months of lockdown, I may have consumed my own body weight in comfort food, but after that I found I had the time to look after myself a little better and do some proper exercise and am now up to running 5k a day. My dog is less happy about this…
In my local community, I also saw a spirit and determination to pull together and get through all this despite the personal and professional challenges that we were each facing. The outpouring of support from neighbours willing to help neighbours has been heart-warming to see.
After a while, work started to pick up again and instead of trudging into an office somewhere I was making the considerably shorter commute from one room in the house to another. This way of working to begin with did come with its challenges. Interruptions from my partner asking, “Do you know where my (*phone / watch / socks / other random item*) is?”, the dog barking, parcel deliveries and the good old rural broadband letting me down regularly.
And, whilst I have now settled into the world of home-working and virtual meetings, I’m really looking forward to the days when I can meet people face to face again, and won’t have to utter the phrase “I think you’re on mute” quite so many times!
Whilst the global pandemic situation continues to evolve, and the impacts of COVID -19 bring many changes to our way of life, I would just like to sign off by extending my sincere and grateful thanks to everyone who has been keeping the show on the road back at the hospice. Thank you.”
