Wednesday 1 April 2020

What does a day look like

Totally unrelated photo.
Stolen from Twitter just for fun
Two posts in one day. And this is going to be a very different one to the previous entry. Why so? Because this time I am setting myself something of a time limit. Not a fixed time limit, just something of one. Why? Because the previous post took almost all day to write, I stopped and started so many times, lost my thread, edited and rewrote, and in the end wasn't particularly happy with the result.

But I am a big believer that imperfect activity trumps perfect inactivity - every time. Better get something done and out there than wait and try so hard to get it perfect that it doesn't happen. And yes, I also know that there are very valid exceptions to this general rule but when it comes to writing/blogging/newsletters I can spend so much time procrastinating about what to say and how to say it that the time has often passed. For newsletters and public posts that may mean a missed sales opportunity, for these more personal reflections it can mean that the thought has passed or been lost. And during these dark times it is these that I am so keen to capture.

I am encouraging everyone I know to write at the moment. It could be something like this - a daily blog post. It may be a journal, pen or pencil on paper. And for some it could be daily status updates on social media. For some it is easier to be honest if things are privately written and for your eyes only. For others it is the discipline of knowing others may look that enables us to frame things in a way that helps us to see them more objectively.

So today hasn't been a great one. The news at the press conference this evening was very sobering as the number of people affected by the Coronavirus continues to rise and the number of people who have sadly lost their life to it has increased again. Very sadly also two people known well to me, and loved for their warmth, kindness, generous nature and spirit have died.

Yesterday however, and I sadly failed to document this, I had a really lovely online chat with one of the comedians who stood out like the star that he was at a recent Yellow Comedy gig. He kindly asked how The Kitchen is doing at this time which led into a conversation about using this time to write. Having shared this link with him, and after a little lull in the conversation, he made some incredibly kind comments on my writing (where is the blush emoji on blogger anyone?!) and suggested I may like to write some drama, a book or screenplay. We went on to discuss how much I had enjoyed watching Cobra and I urged him to give it a go. Turns out he already has, as his sister only plays the Prime Minister's daughter in it! Have you seen it? She's absolutely fantastic - go watch and imagine what she will be playing in the future, definitely another star in the making there.

This evening we will watch Kate and Koji. Gentle good humoured comedy - so important these days as an antidote to the rolling news channels with updates and analysis which important as they are can be repetitive. Perhaps the place where an antidote is even more needed however is social media. So easy to pick up the phone because of a notification and find yourself drawn into a stream of messages and posts which can range from scaremongering to constant criticism of what is being done to cope with this crisis. This may be a naive point of view but at times like this I feel we somehow need to believe in our government. That they have our best interests at heart, want to protect the NHS, and are doing all they can to keep us safe. I am sure there will come a time when it is appropriate to look back and learn. To investigate whether things could have been done differently or perhaps better. For now however this government is the one we have to lead us out of this crisis and whatever our political colours there is a difference between healthy opposition and conspiracy theories.

Speaking of something to believe in (I think we were) that may well be a post for tomorrow. And how about this - cracked this post in half an hour! Gin o clock anyone?

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