I’m rather surprised that it’s taken me this long to join such a diverse and wonderful club! The truth is, while I’ve wanted to get involved for a long time, I am a self confessed luddite when it comes to computer technology and I simply didn’t know where to start. I can imagine quite a few of you rolling your eyes or tutting as I say that and if I’m brutally honest, it’s not just my laptop…….I dread my husband announcing that he’s just bought a new television because I know it will be weeks (possibly months!) before I can work out all it’s features. But when you’re married to a man as tech savvy as he is and have 3 children who have grown up with all these things, there really isn’t much need for me to work it out in a hurry.
This reminds of a time some years ago when my husband was working away on a project. The children had all gone to bed and I decided to find something to watch. After about 10 minutes of frustrated huffing, puffing and not a small amount of swearing, my 10yr old daughter appeared, bleary eyed in her nightie, and said “Mummy, do you want me to show you how to do it ?” I kid you not! So I certainly take after my father on that front, who had a very successful career in business but hated his computer and couldn’t cope with the remote control!
But life for most of us over the past 10months or so has given us little choice but to master the art of digital communication, whether that be through endless emails or virtual meetings via one of the myriad of platforms available, in order to maintain some abridged version of a working day or simply to keep in touch with family and friends to fend off the sense of isolation and at times, a rising anxiety over the rapid changes to so many aspects of our lives. Thankfully, these are things that I’ve been able to do a lot and I know that I’ve learned a few new skills in the process but there simply is no substitute for meeting up with people, face to face. I miss going to the office, I miss meeting friends for dinner or a quick nip to the pub and I really, really miss the simple act of getting a hug from my nearest and dearest I don’t share a home with! I’m warning them all now that I have a huge backlog of hugs to get through as soon as it’s safe!
I admit, too, that I’ve found myself increasingly thoughtful throughout this period of working from home, probably because there is less rushing around and less time stress so this seems like a very good time to join in the conversation. To that end, I am so grateful to a wonderful friend who, with expertise and a great deal of patience, has got me up and running with my first foray into blogging. Bless him! He has no idea yet how much I will need his ongoing help!
So, there is a lot going on out there which gives rise to thought, opinion, observation and hopefully a good deal of humour as we come to terms with the new normal. Of course it’s absolutely vital, right now, that we do exactly as we’re being asked to do in order to get through this pandemic together, because the consequences of not doing so are too dire to ignore. I hope you’ll join me again, but in the meantime, be kind to yourself, be mindful of each other, believe that there is hope and that we will be able to go on holiday again, that we will be able to enjoy dinner with friends, shopping for things other than food and all the small, simple things that form the back drop to our normal daily lives such as a great big, squeezy hug!
Bye for now…..