I don’t know about you, but lately, I seem to be doing something that I never, ever do. I’ve increased my mindless browsing on social media, and am finding myself aimlessly scrolling through different feeds. This isn’t like me, I like to think I have quite a healthy relationship with social media generally, so I’m sure it’s some sort of coping mechanism to deal with what’s going on. But by spending more time on social media platforms, I’ve also increased my intake of negativity, and I’m really struggling to deal with it. Thankfully, however, this week began with scrolling through social media and seeing simply wonderful posts being shared. I realised then that whilst there are still so many people behaving like selfish idiots, the isolation and lockdown has really brought out the creative sides of so many other people. And it’s those people that are really getting people like me through this.
After starting the week feeling a little grey, I stumbled across a video on Facebook of a family singing ‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables. I couldn’t help but marvel at the creativeness of the video and the genuine talent from all family members. The isolation-focused lyrics were absolutely hilarious, and I spent 4 whole minutes watching the video with a humongous grin on my face. I felt so great after watching it, and I realised that it’s little things like this that people are taking the time to create and share with the world, that are keeping me going through this pandemic. I shared it on social media, and received comments that the video had brightened the days of many others, too. I was glad that I chose to share this video for others to enjoy.
The following day, I saw a post from a parent whose sons had expressed that they desperately wanted to go to a restaurant to eat. Being so young, the poor loves couldn’t understand why they weren’t allowed to go and do something that they usually enjoy. In response to this request, the parents created their own ‘restaurant’ in their house, complete with a waitress, chef, menus and table service, and posted the video online for the world to see. The kids were so polite and played along with such vigour that I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear (and maybe shed a little tear) as I watched the entire video. What a beautiful thing for those parents to do at a time that’s so uncertain and unclear for adults, never mind children! I felt so happy after watching it, and loved the creativity shown by those people.
The final creative thing that’s really made me smile this week is the story of two bears, Ted and Ed, doing different things every day in their garden for the world to see. That’s it! Just two giant bears, in their front garden, being set up in different poses each day to create different scenes. They are local to me too – just 10 minutes down the road (though not right now as that’s not an essential journey obviously!) – and I loved seeing the creativity going into the daily setups. There has since been an Instagram account created for them, and we can now watch the lovely scenes daily. It’s such a simple thing but one that has really brightened the long days being faced by so many people right now!
Of course there are so many wonderful things going on right now, that I only wish I could feature them all here. But I have really enjoyed seeing them this week and they have really kept me going, so I wanted to share them here so that when isolation is over, and humanity returns to a new form of life (because it won’t be life as we knew it), I’ll always remember how the creativity shown by so many people was one of the small but important things that kept so many of us going through dark times.
I only hope the creativity continues in weeks to come!
Reflect and Introspect 
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