Looking at the world through pink tinted lenses.
This has definitely been a time for reflection and reassessment of our lifestyle, our priorities and our attitude to others. The early days were surreal as my husband shifted his entire workload from being a rural GP to working in the COVID Hubs on outskirts of Glasgow. Pretty scary and unsettling. But as the new normal way of being emerged and our community quickly responded to keep residents safe by offering shopping, prescriptions, gardening and friendly calls, we found ourselves slowing into a new pace and focussing on those around us we could support.
We had recently launched a Singing for Heath and Wellbeing class in the town and our fantastic Music Therapist kept us cheery in the early weeks with videos of funny warm ups, sea shanties and songs we could sing along to at home. Now we’re all meeting weekly for a full hour of singing on Zoom.
For me, I have been creating small moments of happiness in our days.
Making a good cup of coffee and taking time to whizz the milk, reading a book during daytime, sharing positive thoughts and advice on social media and certainly enjoying nature around us. We are so blessed with a glorious countryside and garden.
Taking our dogs out on wonderful walks in Borders countryside and gathering things for a nature table. We’ve got fantastic stones with fossils in them, beech nuts and pinecones, moss covered branches, some swan feathers from the riverbank and last year’s wasp from inside our barbecue. Looking at each of these items closely and thinking about what natures goes through to generate these items of wonder is a fantastic way to slow yourself down.
The pink hair was a bit of a wild moment. My two daughters who work in the creative industry are staying with us and so when my regrowth was past the point of “Cruella DeVille” we needed to take action! In my head I though “hey it will wash out after a fortnight!!!” So a whole bottle of pink dye later and a makeover by my artistic daughters and here I am. Even the dog got a wee pink mohawk!
There is no doubt that having my girls home has been a complete joy – and with a strong community helping us all stay safe, we are lucky to have managed to avoid much of the heartache caused by this pandemic.