Isolation Observations
First-hand, if slightly incoherent, reflections on two of the most unusual weeks.
There appears to be a great irony in that being surrounded by the people you love and care for most, can make you want to move apart from them all the more. I guess this is just the principle of moderation, yet it appears to be particularly exacerbated when forced companionship is put upon you. In many ways, I am fortunate to have only my mother in the house for company - her ability to work from home meaning she can self-isolate from me, as well as Coronavirus, with relative ease. There have honestly been moments where I have wanted to self-isolate from myself, days where the minute hand could so easily be confused for the hour. Yet I have made it, as indeed we all have, and this should be celebrated - albeit once again in moderation.
Each day has typically consisted of me lounging about the house for half of it wishing I could actually write some essay or another (more about why this is the case later), before justifying my laziness by going for my daily state-sanctioned form of exercise, either a run or cycle. With most sports, I don't know if I actually enjoy them objectively. Badminton I definitely do because it is both fast and immensely tactical. But cycling and running, I have to make competitive in order to motivate and push myself. I don't enjoy going for a run 'for the sake of it'. I enjoy the adrenaline and knowledge of having run a PB. Hence why earlier this week I wasn't content with a sedate jog with my old man and carried on afterwards, transforming leisurely family time into an unprecedented endurance effort which broke me the following day. Cycling is a hybrid - I relish the tactics of a bike race and the technical skills required .as well as the fitness required. But on my own, I need my Garmin in front of me - giving me stats to chase and times to race. Hence why the book I have just finished is Peter Cossins' latest book about the nature of professional cycling tactics and their evolution. A friend of mine suggested I should write a book review for a blog post, but given the already niche subject matter, my review would be irrelevant to most, and even obsolete to a few.
When I am playing sport, I am not thinking about myself, my moods, or the monotony of life at home. My brain is instead filled with route planning, music, or even nothing at all. I recommend to all those who can go out, to do so - and maximise their allocated exercise 'slot' - for their head as much as for their body. Your head will thank you later.
The week before isolation started (as my previous post alluded to), I had a couple of days off due to inset days and isolation preparation, and during that time, essay writing was completed in the kitchen. Bereft of a more suitable location - with libraries and everywhere else closed - this was the status quo. Until last week, when my head snapped. Distracted by food, the garden and the incentive of exercise, even making a formal timetable failed to stimulate my senses into focusing. Essay feedback from years gone by has told me that half-hearted work is practically worthless and could even lower my eventual grades, considering that it is teacher assessment which is determining them in these most unusual times. Since then, I have languished in frustration, growing ever more aware of the need to do something, only to find myself cooped up and more unable than ever before to do what was required of me.
Perhaps that is why I broke out into dance on Wednesday, wanting to release energy and feelings without being immediately judged by others or constrained by a 2m radius. I thought that, above anything else, it might make people smile - the choreography is hardly professional. The response was quite overwhelming and it has even inspired half of my family to create similar videos - who knew social dancestancing could catch on?
I have just watched the Queen speak to the nation, and for all her blessings and support she gave us, it was her description of our 'quiet good-humoured resolve' which has stuck with me. In the past weeks, when it has been oh so easy for people to slump into despair and fear, I have seen a communitarian spirit I didn't know existed. My faith in humanity is higher than it has ever been, at a time when humanity itself is threatened at a level unprecedented during peacetime - barring perhaps the Spanish flu. And be it through dancestancing, clapping for our carers, donating and giving back where necessary, however hellish the coming weeks and months may be, there will be an end, where everything will go back to normal. Even when the world as we know it, may be very different, and normal itself, may need complete redefining.
There appears to be a great irony in that being surrounded by the people you love and care for most, can make you want to move apart from them all the more. I guess this is just the principle of moderation, yet it appears to be particularly exacerbated when forced companionship is put upon you. In many ways, I am fortunate to have only my mother in the house for company - her ability to work from home meaning she can self-isolate from me, as well as Coronavirus, with relative ease. There have honestly been moments where I have wanted to self-isolate from myself, days where the minute hand could so easily be confused for the hour. Yet I have made it, as indeed we all have, and this should be celebrated - albeit once again in moderation.
Each day has typically consisted of me lounging about the house for half of it wishing I could actually write some essay or another (more about why this is the case later), before justifying my laziness by going for my daily state-sanctioned form of exercise, either a run or cycle. With most sports, I don't know if I actually enjoy them objectively. Badminton I definitely do because it is both fast and immensely tactical. But cycling and running, I have to make competitive in order to motivate and push myself. I don't enjoy going for a run 'for the sake of it'. I enjoy the adrenaline and knowledge of having run a PB. Hence why earlier this week I wasn't content with a sedate jog with my old man and carried on afterwards, transforming leisurely family time into an unprecedented endurance effort which broke me the following day. Cycling is a hybrid - I relish the tactics of a bike race and the technical skills required .as well as the fitness required. But on my own, I need my Garmin in front of me - giving me stats to chase and times to race. Hence why the book I have just finished is Peter Cossins' latest book about the nature of professional cycling tactics and their evolution. A friend of mine suggested I should write a book review for a blog post, but given the already niche subject matter, my review would be irrelevant to most, and even obsolete to a few.
When I am playing sport, I am not thinking about myself, my moods, or the monotony of life at home. My brain is instead filled with route planning, music, or even nothing at all. I recommend to all those who can go out, to do so - and maximise their allocated exercise 'slot' - for their head as much as for their body. Your head will thank you later.
The week before isolation started (as my previous post alluded to), I had a couple of days off due to inset days and isolation preparation, and during that time, essay writing was completed in the kitchen. Bereft of a more suitable location - with libraries and everywhere else closed - this was the status quo. Until last week, when my head snapped. Distracted by food, the garden and the incentive of exercise, even making a formal timetable failed to stimulate my senses into focusing. Essay feedback from years gone by has told me that half-hearted work is practically worthless and could even lower my eventual grades, considering that it is teacher assessment which is determining them in these most unusual times. Since then, I have languished in frustration, growing ever more aware of the need to do something, only to find myself cooped up and more unable than ever before to do what was required of me.
Perhaps that is why I broke out into dance on Wednesday, wanting to release energy and feelings without being immediately judged by others or constrained by a 2m radius. I thought that, above anything else, it might make people smile - the choreography is hardly professional. The response was quite overwhelming and it has even inspired half of my family to create similar videos - who knew social dancestancing could catch on?
I have just watched the Queen speak to the nation, and for all her blessings and support she gave us, it was her description of our 'quiet good-humoured resolve' which has stuck with me. In the past weeks, when it has been oh so easy for people to slump into despair and fear, I have seen a communitarian spirit I didn't know existed. My faith in humanity is higher than it has ever been, at a time when humanity itself is threatened at a level unprecedented during peacetime - barring perhaps the Spanish flu. And be it through dancestancing, clapping for our carers, donating and giving back where necessary, however hellish the coming weeks and months may be, there will be an end, where everything will go back to normal. Even when the world as we know it, may be very different, and normal itself, may need complete redefining.
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