Life as I know it - Lockdown Edition
A clock ticks into the midnight of March 26. Our nation wakes up to a reality never explored before: a sudden, unexpected, rude awakening. An entire country is hushed, while each home buzzes at the prospect of being devotedly occupied with people for the next few months. School gates close indefinitely, businesses slow to a halt, the streets & malls empty out. South Africa joins with the rest of Earth (sans hand-to-hand contact, of course), to combat an uncharted alien: COVID-19.
Every movement, any murmur, becomes muffled within a thick cloud of white noise & control. When both sound & spirit are faint, when life hands us lemons, how do we reach a state of certainty?
The truth is, life doesn’t have two arms to deal us lemons from one hand & sugar from the other. If I want to make lemonade, I need to supply the sweetener. This epidemic has not been as much of a surprise to my system as it has to the System, because I’ve found peace in uncertainty. Yes, we human beings seek clarity, answers, and stability, it’s a natural desire. But what if I voiced a thought that we do not need reasons to feel content - that contentment is a manifestation of the state of mind, heart, body, and soul? When life throws us a lemon, what we choose to make of it is what actually needs attention.
Indeed, my matric year had beautiful prospects ahead, like every other group that has come before the Class of 2020. However, such prospects could never truly haven been certain. The matric dance date has passed us by, and Major production is cancelled along with the Vocal Ensemble Eistedford, high-school derby days, achieving co-curricular colours, and meeting my grade eight mentee for tea by the café on Friday mornings.
In addition, I long for Sunday family lunches, volunteering and visiting my Oumie. But now hold on, I’ll stop myself right there. Harping on about this unpleasant circumstance will only ever prove futile. I won’t allow for myself nor you to be robbed of hidden treasures that lay beneath the grit of lockdown, by frenzying over an entity that we cannot control.
Forget about making lemonade. I have been baking up a sugary storm with these lemons by transforming them into poppyseed muffins, banana bread, lemon loaf — name it, I’ll bake it! There is an abundance of sweetness to go around in these upcoming weeks, and I’m not just referring to the baked goodie galores. I am sprinkling some lemony zest over my lockdown experience, and you are invited to sprinkle with me.
Let’s ditch the complaints, ditch the fear, the procrastination & excuses. Our confinement may turn out to be one big blessing in disguise. Once again I am lured into strumming ukulele & guitar to my heart’s content. Time spent with the Lord, & journaling & poetry can be as stretched out as one would like, because rising at 6AM still allows for two hours before online classes begin. Who knew how crunching unapologetically through autumn leaves with your canine friends could revitalize the senses? There is true peace now that time strolls by slowly in the day. We can even lay down for an hour outside, gazing at dreamy cloud formations, without any feeling of guilt for wasting time. Friendships have blossomed most ardently, because the time invested into catching up over a Zoom meeting is intentional, & even family-time has returned to its rightful, special place. To top it all off with a cherry, this Mother’s Day allowed for home baked croissants & cherished family memories.
Whether I am Prince Charles of Cornwall, Tom Hanks or Boris Johnson, life will not skimp on loading my path with lemons. A good life isn’t packaged with our circumstance, but with our response. So, with that being said, what will we bake next? - Hannah Mia xo
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