How i kept my sanity during lockdown

For many of my friends, June 1 couldn’t come soon enough. They were at their wits’ end, depressed, claustrophobic, going nuts and feeling a whole gamut of emotions as a result of being locked in for 74 days.

Indeed, it is not a joke to stay home and not do much with your free time while the days stretch into weeks and the weeks into months.

They were excited during the first two weeks, as they were able to clean up their closets, go over their collections and discover the numerous things they had forgotten about.

More importantly, they were able to spend time with their family — an elusive thing during pre-lockdown, what with their many socials and other obligations they had to attend to.

But after two weeks of this “relaxed” schedule and nightly family dinners, boredom started to creep in.

Last year, I made a list of what I needed to do to streamline my living space. I knew I would do it one day soon, but never found the time to do it.

Well, the lockdown left me with no choice but to finally face the music.  During the first week of the ECQ — March 15 to 22, to be precise — I went through my closets and did an inventory of all my clothes and shoes. This was the No. 1 item on my list and I was finally doing it.

I listed my clothes and shoes and categorized them: casual, informal, semi-formal, formal.

My head was spinning after I finished my inventory and I was happy to see a pile of all the things that I decided to give away. I also included kitchenware, electronics, towels, gadgets, books, etc., that I did not want to keep anymore.

I was so overwhelmed with all the stuff I had that, right there and then, I made a resolution not to buy a single item of clothing, kitchenware, gadget, electronics or anything that I didn’t need. This time, I will stick to my resolve and what will help me succeed is the change of lifestyle we are all undergoing this year because of coronavirus.

Sad to say, for the next few months, many events will be held on Zoom and for this we don’t have to get dressed. I am sad about this because I miss getting together with my friends and seeing each other dressed to the nines.

Dance, dance, baby!

Exercise became part of my daily regimen during the lockdown. I decided to test my physical endurance by exercising daily.  Luckily, my dance teacher thought of continuing classes virtually on Zoom. I attended the classes three times a week, which truly made me happy! Exercise releases the happy hormone serotonin, and I believe this because I am always in high spirits after a dance exercise session.

Before the lockdown, my nephew had the good sense to rent exercise machines and weights (barbells, dumbbells) from the fitness gym he attended and placed them on the terrace of my father’s house.

Today, we have a mini-gym on the terrace, which overlooks a well-pruned garden lined with different kinds of fruit-bearing trees. What a delight to exercise with a garden view instead of the four walls of a gym.