"Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going." --Tennessee Williams

 The Olympics has been prodding me to remember favourite moments of other Olympics (and Denyse got us to remember the Sydney 2000 Olympics quite recently so I won't repeat myself). The mass ice melt in Greenland got me thinking about Svalbard and the Polar Bear. We are heading into another HSC but it's quite a different landscape from before - there's stress but a different stress (about alarming government decisions and I THANK the teachers for holding their ground and not putting the kids at great risk and potentially shutting down our hospitals) and it's not countered with the celebratory feel of last time. It's a sad way to mark the end of 13 years of school. All those fun 'lasts' have already happened, apparently, before we realised and we didn't mark the occasion.

I learnt from a psyche talk I listened to last lockdown, that around the 6 week mark issues you've buried deep start bubbling to the surface. So if that's happening for you, it's normal but what you do with that emotion might need professional help depending what it is. Also remember not to let the dirt from the past fool you into thinking it's glitter. and that happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.

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As Kierkegaard said “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards". I think the reason lockdown brings up our memories is not just the abundance of time but also there is no future to plan. Any time that would be spent organising trips or parties or concerts to go to, friends to catch up with is now blank, as there is too much uncertainty. My tip is plan for the future that you can. Every Friday we have a party - a three course dinner with cocktails and the whole family lingers at the table. The food is different to what we normal have, the table is often set with more effort. It's a little  thing but it does take some time and organisation and it does make me focus forward (if I get a dinner box, I need to start looking on the Monday to book before the cut offs). It's small, but it helps to have something to look forward to.

What do we need to remember in lockdown?

1. It will pass.

2. A mask and ID if we leave the house. (and sanitiser is always handy).

3. To check in everywhere.

4. To help others when we can - either with where we spend our money or checking in on friends.

5. To enjoy the sunshine when we can, to up our exercise (for mood) and to revel in whatever brings us joy (or frankly distraction).

I leave you with a funny little story I wrote back in the days of First of the Month Fiction on the prompt of memory.

How do you think we'll remember this period of our lives?

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