Back in March 2020 we were plunged into spending months with nothing but our immediate surroundings for a change of scene. Our first ever lockdown.
All over the country, we now face the prospect of the same situation. Raw in our minds, what it felt like the first time.
I remember, in some ways it seemed like a bygone era before cars, like Pride & Prejudice (but far more tech-ie) we were forced to correspond with loved ones in ways other than face to face.
“It’s like the beginning of a disaster movie!” we all referenced along the way as roads and shops, became eerily empty. “I am Legend” and “Contagion” were trending on Netflix.
Enforced solitude does weird things to your personal life. Close family felt distant. Close friends postponed their weddings, some indefinitely. And holidays, what holidays? Weekends barely felt different to our week days, why waste precious holiday time?
As you can probably tell by now, I am not a parent otherwise this post would have an entirely less self indulgent vibe. #Blessed. So to those who were parenting, home schooling and/or working (or trying to), I tip my hat to you.
Front line workers were probably dealing with the worst days of their careers. But all was not bleak, furlough saved a lot of jobs. The NHS finally got the public love they had always deserved.. not the pay rise though. At least, those that had previously taken them for granted couldn’t anymore, including our own Prime Minister.
And more personally we found ourselves taking our mental and physical health more seriously. And for the first time we, my husband (co-founder of Sons - Stef Roberts) and I, trod a nearby nature walk on a regular basis. Faced suddenly with our immediate surroundings only, we explored, noticed and defended local nature. It was pretty eye opening, we’d never explored so close to home before. And it only took a global pandemic.
And this is when Kinnship’s album Commensality found us in April. We felt like it was written just for us and just for then. It was our companion. Melancholy, hopeful, reflective. So we reached out to Kinnship and amazingly he responded, commissioning us a lyric video (and a music video).
We happened to be living on a small lake.. as you do! Part of what made us so lucky in these strange times, we had nature literally on our doorstep. Stef had been shooting footage on and off in our local area for a few days, and that’s when the storm came. Stef, one eye on the look out for opportunities, grabbed his camera and stood on our balcony, overlooking the lake and the weeping willows, as the rain came pouring down.
Watching it back now, it transports me back into the first lockdown.
It seemed a reflection of our times - a storm came, casting a blanket of darkness, forcing us to stop our activities, seek sanctuary, notice what shelter we had and practise gratefulness. But there was a future hope, that the rain would one day pass and the sky would recover. We would see our loved ones again.
And so here we go again! Hang in there everyone, be kind to yourselves. And remember the storm will pass.