What’s your new normal?

Are you living the ‘new normal‘ yet? If so, what does that look like for you? We are all learning new ways to cope with the new rules. Although restrictions on lockdown are easing – we still have to adjust to this new life, whatever that might be. It’s not the same as before.

Whether you’re homeschooling your kids or Zooming your mates, things are quite different. It’s a weird thing to be stuck at home for long periods of time. And maybe it’ll be like this for some time to come.

I’ve found myself getting interested in things that never even bothered me, that I never even noticed, before the lockdown.

I spent one light evening spraying the garden fence to get rid of the green algae and mould there. (See what I mean?) I spent quite a few evenings after putting the kids in bed painting their room with vivid mountain backdrops. Another night, I spent the entire time online ordering the perfect doorstops.

What’s that all about?

Trying to feel useful in a time where I was so utterly useless to helping the pandemic? Who knows. A few months down the line and I’m getting into a sort-of exhausting routine of homeschooling, working and cooking all under one roof.

But I’m also able, somehow, to invest time in new things and interests that I’ve never realised I wanted to do. I’ve found an inner calm in the banal: fixing our blind chords, gluing back together the sugar pot, making fluffy rainbow paint (you’ve gotta add shaving foam and whisk it up, it’s pretty cool!). It’s not normal for me, but it is my new normal. And in some ways I rather like the simpler, slower pace of life. There’s no time pressure to be here, pick the kids up from there, get that done by then, and so on…

As each day goes by, I hear more and more DIY projects going up in the neighbours’ gardens: drilling, sawing, painting, re-building. As delivery drivers scurry around the country delivering the weirdest, smallest and trivial items door to door, I wonder what else we’re all getting on with, for the pure sake of getting on with it.

Whatever it is you’re doing, whatever it is you might have tried during coronavirus lockdown, I hope you’re finding some inner peace amongst this new normal chaos.

And PS – I finally took some videos of my latest gorgeous albums and wall arts, and stuck them online. Check them all out on Facebook.

This little job was on my to do list for many months and months. Well lockdown, you’ve finally made me do it! Here’s to being productive in this new crazy world.