Noted - Episode 3 & 4
We're all facing difficulties just now, but it’s important we keep things in perspective. Some of us are seriously suffering. Like me. Because I've lost my headphones. This is causing all kinds of havoc as they are vital to my concentration levels while working from home and is doubly irritating as I know they are somewhere in the house! I actually know this to be undeniably true as I had them in the house last week and, given the current state of affairs, no-one has left the homestead until a couple of days ago. Which is when I realised I couldn't find them. They have to be here somewhere. This rising tide of eye-twitching frustration is something I’m familiar with as I'm no stranger to losing things, but in one sense I am grateful as it has given me a brainwave for this week’s blog.
Charles Mackesy's graphic novel The Boy the Mole the Fox and the Horse captured the mood of the nation even before current world events took over. We bought a copy last year (upon recommendation from a friend), for our youngest - who is dyslexic and not the biggest fan of reading. We were all blown away and ended up buying 5 or 6 copies and foisting them on everyone who visited us! There is hope and wisdom on every page and I'm yet to meet anyone who hasn't been reduced to tears after a reading of it.
At the moment when things are so uncertain, when we don’t know what challenges lie ahead or how long this new way of life will last, the way we react to events is one of the few freedoms we have left. So when I saw a cartoon yesterday in one of the many Calvin & Hobbes books we have around the house (albeit mostly in the toilets), it really made me smile. It's not the situation that we face but our reaction to it that we should focus on.
I was obviously only reading the book of cartoons because my husband and I had finished the 2000 piece giant 'puzzle of procrastination' (well if it's good enough for Tom Holland), and was supposed to be looking for my headphones (by following the aunt’s annoyingly sage advice, "when you lose something, you'll find it by tidying up"). I had also recently read this very interesting article on brain health and wellness and how it's linked to finding lost things. A key phrase from the article stuck with me: "What researchers say is the best strategy is to stop searching in uncluttered places. Look in a messy area that makes your missing item harder to spot." This is particularly tricky for me however, as despite my husband's constant efforts, my whole house is a basically one giant messy area.
Anyway, it was during this enforced tidy up I came across the Bill Waterson books and got somewhat distracted. I did think the cartoon below was particularly apt though and, like the one at the top of this blog, reminded me that we have a choice about how we respond to what we face, and can either see the difficult situation in front of us as a crisis or an opportunity.
The phrase "we're all in this together" has, I feel, been misused many times before now but certainly has the ring of truth about it now. Thanks to my international heritage I have family all over the world and possibly for the first time in all our lifetimes, we're all talking (or not talking) about the same things, and it has invariably and perhaps unexpectedly brought us all closer together. My nearest neighbours have set up a WhatsApp group, initially created as a support collective, now a source of comedy memes and youtube clips, socially distanced music making, baking and cookery swaps and has created a camaraderie that is really joyful. People you now have to avoid on the street, make eye contact and smile apologetically where previously almost any passing pavement communication would probably have been studiously avoided.
The other extraordinary collective experience is the new socially-distant supermarket shopping. As a nation, we do know how to queue and generally dislike making small talk with people we encounter in the aisles (well, not me obviously. I love a chat amongst the frozen peas and my family know that if I go to the local Co-op for an emergency purchase, I'll likely be at least 30 minutes having bumped into someone). But now the weekly 'big shop' is a dream scenario for some: the well-ordered outdoor queueing, then barely a soul anywhere inside, almost empty checkout lanes and no one to play the "quick they might have seen us - leave the area, about-turn-trolly tango" with. See, every cloud...
It was pointed out to me not long ago that sometimes when facing difficulties, it can helpful to try to put a 'positive gloss' on things. It has to be said that the YMH sharing page is really succeeding in that respect and has had a hugely diverse range of fun and uplifting submissions. Please do check it out and keep the material coming, people are really enjoying seeing what everyone is up to musically.
So, as some of us take a break** over Easter and some of us don't***, and as we all adjust to our new 'normal', we continue to navigate our way through the coming hours/days/weeks/months. I continue the ongoing never-ending search for my elusive headphones, and continue to find inspiration not just in the wise words of Charles Macksey and Bill Waterson, but also in the advice of a very good friend of mine who says to me whenever I've faced a challenge, personally or professionally - and more times than I care to remember, very simply: "Keep going."
* Does that one even count...?
** Noted will be back in a fortnight
*** The Schools, Hospitals and the Hub team don't, to name but a few...
Perfect. Thank you. #keepgoing
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