We are NOT all in the same boat

I came across a wonderful meme at the beginning of lockdown which said “we are not all in the same boat but we are all in the same storm”. This resonated much with me and as the past 5 months have unfolded I am completely convinced that we are NOT all in the same boat, but we are all navigating the un-chartered waters of the same stormy Corona sea.

As I have engaged in different conversations with many different people since Corona took us by storm, I have come face to face with this reality. We are not in the same boat. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed lockdown and being home with my family every.single.day. I loved waking up a little later – I am a morning person and never sleep in! I am ever grateful that I could continue working remotely and I loved sharing lunch together, outside in the sun, with freshly baked bread and home-made lemonade.

Now that I am back at work, I miss these uninterrupted moments of being together, but face another challenge of finding some time to myself, to just be, to think and to process all that’s going on!

For my daughter it has been a completely different challenge, which she’s facing like a true champion. As an only child, she did not see another small human being for 2 months. That’s 8 weeks of no child-chatter or imaginary play. My hubby and I played A LOT with her, but there’s no replacing the freedom of spirit when children play together. We intentionally created chat time with friends and cousins on ZOOM and this was something she looked forward to weekly!

Back at school for her has presented huge benefits and also other challenges. She loves seeing her peers and enjoys having break time to chat to her girl friends! But her workload is intense and the anxiety that disappeared during lockdown has returned. Our mornings are filled with work and school and our afternoons are consumed with home work.

My husbands work has carried on as before, except that his office is now in our dining room and he doesn’t need to compete with traffic to get to his desk on time! Some weeks the work demand has even been stressful due to the volume of requests and their agility to learn and make use of new methods and various online platforms.

For my cousins three sons, lockdown has meant different things for each one of them. The eldest does not enjoy socializing, and enjoys time alone, and all of a sudden was cooped up with his 4 other family members. All at home. All the time. For the middle one, his first year of varsity has been completely disrupted, however he has enjoyed online lessons much more than having to catch the bus to and from the varsity campus, and for their youngest, his first year of high school has been almost completely virtual. How do you build new friendships with new classmates when you see them for a class through a screen and then carry on in your individual world until the next class is scheduled? So none of them have been in the same boat.

For some it has been the best time. Baking sourdough bread and mastering a skill. Doing home DIY and completing unfinished products. Catching up on Netflix series and wearing pajama pants all day (cos you only need to look your best on top for Zoom or other online platform meetings!)

For some it has been a non-stop storm. Kids at home, working full time, often with no boundaries on the working hours to adhere to. All using the same space to live and move, work and play, eat and rest. And actually finding no rest at all.

Some have lost everything and been ship-wrecked through losing jobs and income. Some have mourned through lockdown due to losing loved ones. Some have grieved lost opportunities and lost relationships. Some have lost hope and lost heart.

For some it has been lonely. So. very. lonely.

And for some, like those in the medical and grocery retail world, not much has changed. Work has carried on, but now with a mask and sanitizing hands every few minutes. And the anxiety of the storm raging around them knocking on every thought and every moment.

So we are definitely NOT in the same boat, but we are definitely ALL navigating the same storm. Navigating the same sea. Navigating unchartered Corona waters.

So my encouragement to me, to us, to you, to everyone is: be KIND. It sometimes takes courage to be kind, so have courage and be kind. Extend GRACE. Enable space between each other physically, but also give space to those around you emotionally. Its ok to not be ok right now! And we can graciously carry one another. Share LOVE. Wearing a mask is an act of love right now, so don’t do it for yourself, do it for others. And send that voice note or text message to tell someone you’re thinking of them. Or make that call. And make someone’s day! Show RESPECT. We are not all facing the same circumstances, so be considerate and understanding. Live with HOPE. This too shall pass and we will get to the other side of this stormy sea, so keep looking up and remember where your help comes from. And don’t forget to SMILE behind your mask, cos we smile with our eyes and a smile can change the world.

Romans 12:12 encourages us to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Thinking of you all as we face each new day in another week of life in the unknown.