I took this photo above on Sunday when we went to the beach. Luckily we live close to the beach so whilst my dad went out in his kayak, my mum and I walked over to the little cafe (#supportsmall) and grabbed a hot drink and the best Nutella pain au chocolat. It is the small moments like these that lockdown really makes you appreciate. Spending time with my parents, because I am sure in the next couple of years I will move out and that won’t be as regular thing. But it’s also the peacefulness that is shown in this photo. I wish I could say that represented my whole lockdown but I thought I would do a bit of a post of my lockdown 3.0 summary.
If you asked me a year ago what would March 2021 look like in comparison to March 2020 I would probably have said back we would hopefully back to normal. I think its all anyone wished for. We went into lockdown 1.0 in March 2020 thinking the pandemic would be a six week situ – just a minor blip in normal life. A year on we are still here. I haven’t seen my boyfriend since before Christmas, and on Sunday we should have been together celebrating our one year anniversary but instead it was done by a quick FaceTime call.
I would be lying if I said I preferred this lockdown. Looking back to lockdown 1.0 I almost took it for granted if that was even possible? The warm weather, the summer break from uni, sunbathing all afternoon if I wish. The long walks in the sun, just waking up and the whole new realisation of lockdown was something new and not exciting – that wouldn’t be right to say – but I was discovering the art of staying at home and the new opportunities it was giving me. It was nice to slow down.
But lockdown 3.0 has been so far from that. I have been in the middle of university deadlines, including my dissertation. I always said back in lockdown 1.0 as long as my third year is not disrupted I will be happy. Looking back I feel like I jinxed myself! It is so weird being in university online, but there is a glimmer of hope that we can go back to on campus teaching at then end of April so I am holding onto that. But having deadlines and work due, during a lockdown is just downright stressful.
Whilst I am good at organising my time it is still stressful in terms of communication and its something in your third year you wish you wouldn’t have to deal with. And have recently started new modules, which I always find quite overwhelming and I have to admit lockdown hasn’t helped with that either. However, I am fortunate that I have the equipment to do my work at home so silver linings.
I feel sad for all those having to spend this excessive time period on their own again. It makes me sad to think about what we have missed out on. For example not seeing my grandparents like I would every week. I don’t want to make this too sad though because I know hopefully we are at the end of the road. We might not get holidays abroad but at this point if we can see our loved ones, enjoy life to its fullest again within the UK then I will take that straight away. It might not have changed me into the clubbing type, and I can’t say June 21st will be a huge marker in my diary in that sense. However I just can’t wait for family gatherings, or BBQs with friends. Being able to hug people without worrying.
How has your lockdown 3.0 been? Let me know in the comments.
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