When lock downs were first being discussed many people/
businesses and community groups started brain storming about how they could
maintain a sense of continuance. Schools were already making plans for online
learning.
In my own life and house hold we had online school, online
scouts, online music lessons, online networking groups and talk about online
art lessons. A few other local businesses that I visit or purchase from were
offering online bar sessions and online trivia.
Humans are social pack animals. And whilst all the online
offers sounded great and some people did participate, we were getting “onlined
out”. Online also brought the doom and worry of the world to us. Lots of people
chose to retreat into their cocoons. Whilst we had more “free time” during
isolation, many people created lists of ways to fill that time and it didn’t
involve swapping the previous physical activity for the new online version.
Just because we couldn’t physically participate in something
didn’t mean we wanted to do the online version of it. The translation from real
life to screen lost a lot of the senses that made the real version so great.
Many of these online offerings have always been available. I love having a
drink at my local pub with friends and soaking in the atmosphere. Somehow it
just doesn’t have the same feeling sitting infront of a computer screen.
Drinks at the local became watering my garden with a wine as
the sunset. Enjoying live music changed to catching up on my pile of ironing
with the stereo turned up and a scented candle burning. Things that had been on
the “do to list” were suddenly being ticked off. The increase in hardware sales
is testament to this. Or people found new online ways to fill their time. I
have friends who have always wanted to learn yoga and their new spare time
allowed them to learn online.
During isolation we’ve adapted our lifestyles. We know
online everything will always be there for us, but its been nice to switch off
and make the choice to use this time for what we really want.
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