This pandemic is trying to teaching me humility. I went from ‘long term sustainability is of utmost importance’ to ‘sustenance in the short term should be our current priority’. The pollution is temporarily reduced, but this not the pathway. I never thought that I had it in me, to feel this way / to fear as much as I do for all of us. During a lockdown, there is little external stimulation. It’s me and my immediate circle of humans ALL THE TIME. There is no escape. There is no shopping for respite. There is no chasing serendipitous encounters outside the home. There is no stepping out to get away. These circumstances need me to be comfortable with the stillness and with my self. The loneliness of doing creative work prepared me for this lock in, but its not been easy. Every sailor knows that a lighter boat is easier to steer. Forgive some more. Let go of some feelings. Forget some. Reach out to old friends. Latch on to the everyday simple pleasures. See the small and un-sung. Admire the mighty and the lofty from afar. I have had years of practice at this. I taught myself to enjoy the mundane activities like cooking, cleaning and yoga so that I don’t crave high carbon activities like flying, shopping, boutique fitness studios and activities that are an escape from my current life. Slow living, slow fashion, slow food, slow consumption, … are ways of life that will hopefully aide my mental health, during this period of time. The reusables in my home will hopefully make me a tad more sufficient. I haven’t stocked up on food for the apocalypse since I am keeping my trust in the system. Reading about climate grass-root movement for all these years makes me believe in the resilience of humans. We will get through this. Meanwhile, allow me to share one activity that has been making me giddy with joy about having to stay in :

Read. Re-read your current stash of books.

I have a personal library. I skim through some. I read some. I never finish some. I forget many. I take what I want for the time being and move on from most. I have a 2000 book wait list. I fantasize retirement where I can read all day long for pleasure… I can put that theory to test.

Heraclitus argued that no man can step into the same river twice. The water of the river is constantly being replaced from the source. I say : you can never read the same book twice. The person I was 2 years ago isn’t what I am today. My mindset has changed. The world around me has changed. The circumstances have changed. I have consumed photos, words, drawings, personal messages, politics, economics, art, …. It’s the same mirror, but my reflection has changed. My take away from the book will change too. To re-read a good book, is to absorb the information from another vantage point. You become a lover of detail. You gently hunt for something that went un-noticed in the previous read. To re-open a great book is to lavish in it. Time is that missing ingredient. There is that luxury of marinating in a concept over a extended period of time. Assuming that I read other points of view in the passing of time between reads, I might have a more productive conversation with the book. A relationship begins.

For this lock down, I made a list of books I plan to re-read in the next month :



One for helping me remember the joy in simple living. One for keeping hope and ambition alive through the tough times ahead of us all.