We’re living in really rough times now, aren’t we? These last few weeks have been quite difficult for everybody and I’m sending so much love and light to anybody who needs it right now.
In the time since my last post, I’ve gone from having a job I love in a wine bar which keeps enough income coming in to cover my essential bills whilst I set myself up properly as a business, to not having a secure income due to Bozza implementing bar closures in Greater Manchester unless they serve ‘substantial main meals’, to then keeping my job because the owner of the bar refused to go down without a fight and teamed up with a fabulous independent pizza provider to provide delicious ‘substantial’ pizzas for the last week or so, to now actually not being able to work, and not sure I’ll be getting furlough pay in Lockdown 2.0.
What a rollercoaster of emotions!
I feel really sad that I can’t work there for at least a month (but really, we all know it’s going to be longer, don’t we?!), especially as it was providing a huge chunk of my monthly income that I’m not quite able to replace with writing work just yet. I have no choice but to try though, so less time panicking and more time figuring shit out I guess! I am worried, but if I’m being honest, I’m tired of worrying. Things have been uncertain for a little while and it’s just so draining to spend all my time worrying. I keep reminding myself that there’s always somebody who has it worse. And of course I know that, there’s always somebody worse off, but that doesn’t make it any less shit for anybody suffering.
So I’ve been on the lookout for positive things again this week, and I’ve actually found some wonderful stuff! I’m sharing them with you in case you’re finding recent events a little too much to cope with right now.
Reading
I won’t even begin to discuss the sheer farce that’s been thrust upon the hospitality industry lately, but for any of my readers outside of the UK, in short, a few weeks back, the UK government put a 10pm curfew on all bars and restaurants in the North of England in what was somehow an attempt to curb the increasing number of Coronavirus cases in those areas (don’t even ask!). After that, they decided the 10pm curfew wasn’t good enough to stop the virus, so pubs and bars could only open if they served ‘substantial’ food. Substantial food stops the virus, obviously. This was before the complete lockdown, where all pubs, bars and restaurants among many other ‘non-essential’ businesses have been forced to close as of 12:01am on Thursday 5th November.
I was thrilled to read this article (apologies for sharing another Daily Mail article this week – it came up in my Facebook news feed as a suggestion to read and to be fair, this particular article is fairly well-written!). A pub owner stayed open amidst the tier 3 restrictions and sold meals for a penny so that people who don’t have enough money to buy a full meal every time they want to nip to the pub, can still visit, as usual. Pubs like this have many ‘regulars’, which are predominantly older people who perhaps live alone that go to the pubs to socialise. For those people, pubs are a lifeline.
I loved seeing this resourcefulness and I know that many other places are following suit. These are peoples livelihoods at stake, and it’s one thing when there’s a genuine, rational reason behind decisions that are being made, but when the rules are unjust, nonsensical, and not backed by any science, people are fighting back. Good on them.
Watching
There are a few things I’ve watched this week that have really put a smile on my face, and even made me cry! Watch them all – they’ll make your day!
This video was a test (I’m assuming in China) to see how people reacted to a man eating just a piece of bread in the street. China is getting a lot of bad press this year, and I found this video really heartwarming and lovely to watch.
This video made me laugh so much because the Mum is SO scary!!! I would not want to get on the wrong side of her, and you can tell the little boy is confused and terrified, and rightly so. It really warmed my heart and I found the boy’s reaction so precious – watch it!
I swear to god, stop what you’re doing and if you haven’t taken my advice to watch the previous videos (and if not – you’re missing out!!!), you have to watch this one! It is the most beautiful, precious, adorable video and I found myself wanting to jump into my phone screen, pick this little girl up and snuggle her forever after her reaction. Absolutely precious! I’m unable to embed this one, but you can see it on Facebook here.
Listening
I found this song recently when listening to a classical music for concentration playlist and for some reason this song seems to make me think of the cold, dark, Wintery nights that are now upon us. In contrast, it also makes me reminisce for some reason of walking through my beloved Spain late at night, hearing the waves crash upon the shore and feeling content to be on holiday and in my favourite country. It’s a beautiful song and it’s lovely to listen to and escape the world for a little while (5 minutes 34 seconds to be exact).
Before You Go…
I had to share this as a final piece, I have found it phenomenal and watched it 50 times today already. Here’s a video shared by Choreographer Cameron Macdonald in response to the UK government’s blatent lack of respect and regard for the arts industry throughout this whole pandemic.
I never really wrote about it at the time but I was gobsmacked by the infamous Fatima advert. For those who missed it, the UK government genuinely backed a marketing campaign which told creatives (in this case a ballet dancer) to retrain to something apparently more worthy (like in this case, cyber security). Clearly, the outrage was palpable on a colossal scale and the campaign has since been pulled (read more about that here). Whilst the damage has already been done, here’s a video to remind people not to forget about the arts, and in this case, the theatre industry. Because it’s on Facebook, I once again can’t embed it, but you can watch it here. It is stunning.
I hope these have brought you some light today like they have for me, and I’ll be back next week with probably another rant (I’ll try not to – promise!) and sharing of day-brightening things!
Take care and I’ll see you next week!
Reflect and Introspect 