My Corona Diary 2020 - week seven

Week Seven? How did that happen?
When it takes an average of 66 days to embed a new habit (some say), I'm surely well on the way to a whole new life!

So, for me, this week has been about four things.
Firstly, S turned 12. Which wasn't as flat as I thought it would be. She asked for a Danish pastry for breakfast so we made a huge one, some of her friends turned up for a socially-distanced chat on the drive, my family drove by and threw streamers at us, we had a barbecue and ate in the garden and then she had two online catch-ups, including a mutual caterpillar cake session with my family. Whilst it was nice and she seems to have had just as many cards as normal, I did feel for her grand-parents who missed out on giving her a cuddle for the first time since she was born.

Secondly, I have been thinking alot about football. I am an ITFC season ticket holder and have been going week in, week out, whatever the weather for over twenty years. However, at the moment I cannot summon up the interest, and have been considering not going again. I suspect some of this is linked to habits, and I am simply out of the habit. But perhaps it goes deeper than that. Perhaps this is related to my connections and how the link to my fellow supporters is becoming less important as I establish other networks during this time. I suspect, for the people desperate to get back to the beautiful game, they are missing the sense of community (there is a really excellent podcast by Brene Brown called Unlocking Us, where she interviews Dr Vivek Murthy on the topic of loneliness and he covers the three forms).

Thirdly, I took my fight for access to one of the government's Business Grants to both my MP and the local television (I was so excited to leave the house for the interview that I wore all my make-up, all my jewellery and a suit). At the time of writing, I have heard nothing more but I am going to sit back and let this pan out until early next week. And then I shall start all over again. Top tip: sometimes you should be a nuisance, so people act to get rid of you.

Finally, this week has been about my energy levels which have, quite frankly, been on the floor. Gone are the previous weeks of bouncing out of bed, taking the dog to the park, undertaking PE with Joe Wicks and Davina's Core Challenge with a focus I haven't felt for years. This week I have been sluggish. I have found myself thinking 'why bother, I have nothing else to do today' and one day - heavens above - I didn't come downstairs until 8am. Later that day, S told me she was worried I had died...