Friday 29 May 2020

Being Here



How are you and how are you getting on? Are you enjoying the respite of quiet contemplation or are you longing to get out there again?

Have you been filling your lockdown time with Zoom meetings (and did you know much about them before the middle of March) with office folk and Zoom after-hours parties with your friends?

Or have you been catching up on your reading and delving, as one friend has, into Biblical matters. She tells me she is not particularly religious but is curious about history. Did I know for example that Jesus Christ spoke only Aramaic therefore he would not have said: “This is my body … this is my blood” because his language consisted only of pronoun and noun - no verb. His words, translated from Greek, would therefore always have been open to interpretation.

Wow! Who'd have thought it? My friend cannot say her lockdown has been wasted. What an extraordinary use of time! She will not forget what she was up to during this time.

Zoom works well for many
And that led me to a little of my own reflection. What is going on for us in lockdown? Are we willing the period away in frustration and fury, feeling trapped and angry that time is passing and that there is so much to do and so little time to do it?

Or are we taking this as an opportunity to really think about ourselves, and what is going on for us within ourselves? Are we looking at our lives and feeling happy and content with what we have or are we feeling it may be time for a change and considering what that change may be?
I suppose, much of it comes down to whether you are a “do-er” or a “be-er”. The word “be-er” does not seem to exist (except in its alcoholic form and that’s a whole different discussion) so what does that say?

“I’m a doer”, I may say, proud that I achieve things and get things done. Society understands that and I can imagine I will be applauded for my achievements.

Conversely, what does it mean to say: “I’m a be-er”? Would anyone but me even understand it? Probably not.

I have another friend - how lucky am I to have two such thoughtful friends - who is an academic and spends quite some time being quiet and reflective. She takes that role very seriously and, if ever challenged for being so occupied and not taking part in the lively hustle and bustle around, she will say: “I reflect. That is what I am paid for.”

Personally, I have tried to do a bit of both. To escape the everyday world, I read. I find it easy to immerse myself in whatever adventures I am reading about - relationships, comedy, espionage. I have also, to my amazement, travelled the world cruising with Jane McDonald. Whoever would have thought Channel 5 would come up trumps at this time?

Off to hug a tree
In real life, I have been lucky enough to spend time outside with a small child, watching the world through her eyes. We walk through woods - she hugging trees without being told to and ditching her red boots so she can feel the earth under those tiny feet - all the while keeping our distance from those others who are themselves using this time to connect with our world.

Occasionally, my little friend will do something she is particularly proud of and clap her hands together as she laughs and says: “Well done.” She knows what she likes and what is good for her. I could - and will - learn from her.

There is so much talk about mental health issues - maybe, sometimes, just a bit too much? - so how beneficial it might be if we were to use this time to “clear” our heads of unhelpful or hindering thoughts and feelings and to replace them with positive plans for the future.

Our lives are generally busy and the one thing many of us do not have enough of is time; time to stay still, reflect and feel. However, at this moment, we have time to look at and reflect on what life means to us. What makes us feel good and what does not - and is that something we can change?


How refreshing it might be if, just for now, we could forget about our plans for tomorrow and instead get on with the pleasure and enjoyment of life simply by “being”. 

This one-off experience is not going to last for much longer. Let's try to make the most of it.


By: Lulu Sinclair




Thursday 7 May 2020

Following the Leader



“Now is not the time for soundbites … I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.”

That quote actually belongs to Tony Blair but it could work well for our present PM, Boris Johnson.

What a time he has had of it. He survived a near-miss with Covid-19 and then, in the same month, became the father of a baby boy who looks to have inherited those strong Johnson genes. Our PM has stamina and he is clearly going to need it.

Back to the quote. 

Boris Johnson and his band of merry men are facing their moment of history. How Boris is perceived and how he manages it will all depend on what happens now. 

Time for the PM to take a lead
Currently, I have my concerns. The Government started off with an extraordinary majority given to them by those who sought Brexit. An unimaginable 80 seats. The future held such promise.

And then along came Covid-19, a new and unknown virus from which thousands of people have died within a very short space of time.

First, the no-blame game. It was not our government’s fault about Covid-19. We have big cities with diverse groups of people, most of whom live in close proximity so, when it happened, it was bound to have a calamitous effect on the population. Even though some said the UK should have been shut down more quickly, there can be no certainty that was the right thing to do. Government ministers, particularly Boris, were very conflicted about what to do and took a while to lockdown - lockup? - Britain. 

To ministers' surprise, the people accepted the decision with ease. Fear can have that effect and all of us were very quickly made to feel very, very frightened.

The problem, as I see it, comes after that. I observed a terror of ministers running around like headless chickens. They seemed to be locked in their own forever “frozen” stage of fear where the alternative fight or flight reflex did not get a look in. “Stay at home! Protect the (it soon became ‘our’) NHS! Save lives!” The mantra was repeated so often it became a cliché and, instead of appreciating the message, I began to feel irritated. 

In my last blog, I wrote that we as a society needed to have a rational head during the present situation.

More than six weeks after lockdown first began, I fear the Government has abandoned all pretence of rationality and is a living breathing example of when blind panic goes bad. Where gut reaction leads, reason gets elbowed aside.

An example of that is being forced to stay indoors to protect the NHS because it couldn’t cope with a pandemic. (Why not? I have to ask, a lot of money is spent on it).  Putting cynicism aside, I am prepared to do as I am told. But I also wonder why, while I am locked up, millions of people have been allowed to travel into this country and less than 500 of them were checked for Covid-19 symptoms on entry. Where is the logic in that?

My problem is, I am adult by age and a rebel by inclination. I am also, as many human beings are, a mass of contradictions. As an adult, if you reason with me and explain, I will be inclined to obey.  Talk to me in the right way and you will have no trouble from me.

Surfing suddenly seems tempting
However, tell me I MUST do something - and maybe get a little shoutie (from the Minister of Health school of governing) - and my rebellious side is right back at you. Before you know it, I'm planning a trip to Cornwall to ride the Newquay surf - something I’ve never thought of doing before. I sense I am not alone.

Better therefore, to treat the population as adults and address them accordingly. You are likely to get adult behaviour back, responsive and responsible and what may be needed to help contain this terrible and contagious virus. 

So why then, do I feel I’m being told what to do by a group of unknowing arrogant prefects who want to get on and are using me as a punchbag to achieve their aims. It does not bring out the best in a person.

Talking of arrogance, if you want people to comply, you need to lead from the front. It is no good telling everyone to do one thing when you and your cohorts are doing another. If you tell me to keep my distance and then go around shaking hands with everyone, I am going to get a confused message. Similarly, if a scientific guru and the architect of lockdown tells me it is a matter of life and death that I stay at home, I am prepared to trust his judgment. But when I discover he has been breaking his own rules, I am inclined to wonder what else I have been told to do that is wrong. And while isolation may be good for my physical wellbeing - although we are not entirely sure of that either - my mental health does not enjoy being separated from my loved ones. 

I hope that one day we will look back at this as if it were a bad dream but we still have a way to go. For now, we need encouraging and thoughtful leadership to give us confidence as we travel along this bumpy road. 

We are told Boris Johnson has wanted this job for a very long time. Now is his moment. I want his decisions to make me feel safe and I want to believe there is more to him than an optimistic soundbite. I’m not yet feeling it.


By Lulu Sinclair


Photo 2 Ben Shread/Cabinet Office 
Photo 3 Harry Brewer on Unsplash