Lockdown is Making Me Go Around in Circles, Literally

Monday 6 April 2020

Today began more brightly than ever — and I mean that literally. Before I had gone to bed, I’d deliberately left a gap in the window shutters. So as day began to break, streaks of light slowly entered my room.

It was nice to be woken up by natural light, for once. Having always kept the shutters closed, I had grown used to beginning the day in total darkness. This, of course, had meant that whenever I opened them, night would yield to day so rudely, it were almost as if I’d stepped into a whole different world.

The only reason I may now choose to keep my shutters open at night is because of the gradually warming climate, which already makes winter feel like a lifetime ago — a time when, ironically, despite the hostile temperatures, there were far more signs of life outside.

Today is shaping up to be a reprisal of yesterday, when my weather app had forecast a high of 20°C. Yesterday morning I had a Zoom call — and then a Houseparty call — with my family. It was funny to see my mum, dad and little sister on different screens despite each one being at home. My older sister was also calling in — from Melbourne, in her case, which has also put in place a lockdown, albeit one with considerably less strict terms. I can’t help but think that with half the world on…