Rebuilding My Sense of Normal After Five Months of Lockdown

Well the last five months have been something of a whirlwind, haven’t they? Part of my brain thinks it’s still March! It’s September, and I’m getting back to school vibes despite not being in formal education for over a decade. I figured it might be a good opportunity to take stock of the last five months. There have been ups and there have been downs, and now I’m trying to work out what my ‘new normal’ will look like moving forward. That idea of ‘new normal’ has really had me thinking… about what has been working for me, what hasn’t, and what I want to work on moving forward.

I felt great at the start of lockdown. I was going for runs, I was baking multiple times a week, I was doing the most. The problem is, it wasn’t sustainable. I’m someone who thrives with routine, and with lockdown, everything went out the window. So I threw myself into trying to maintain momentum. Well… I couldn’t keep it up. I burned out, and felt so low and like I’d failed somehow.

Only recently have I started to feel like myself again. I’ve started doing Couch To 5K, and it’s helped me plan my weeks. I’ve been planning dates with friends. I’ve also been doing some freelance work, so all in all things are pretty positive.

So how do I move forward? Well, my first step is remembering to have a little compassion for myself. These are uncertain times, and not everything is going to go to plan.

What I really want to do is work on rebuilding my routine (I’m still furloughed, so I don’t have work to help with that) and find the time to do things that bring me joy. Baking has been such a treat lately, so I definitely want that to be part of my new normal. I’ve really enjoyed running as well! I’ve also been doing some counselling on a weekly basis, which has also helped a lot!

I guess my point is, this whole thing is a learning curve. There’s no right way to be dealing with everything happening at the moment. Some of us are craving the old normal, and others are looking to a new normal. Both of these things are okay.

For me, it’s just about taking stock of the last five months and working out  the best way for me to move forward. Things won’t be going back to how they were pre-lockdown, so my priority is taking care of my wellbeing.