Just checking in
10 April 2020
I thought I'd give Damien a break this week and write something more personal. Having done 22 parts on my Treasures research without missing a week and it's now the holidays in the UK and we're in the full throes of a global pandemic, I've decided that's OK. I wanted to keep up some writing momentum, though, even if it's more of a diary entry.
My working day and week have changed substantially since my partner had to move fully to working from home and my voluntary work stopped due to lockdown (although I began self-isolating on 10 March when I recognised the need for distancing). I struggle with misophonia, a condition rooted in distress caused by certain sounds, which makes it extremely difficult for me to share a workspace, which we do at home. I need quiet to think and write, and my time for those is usually fenced off for while himself is at work. I'm aware of how tiny this gripe is and I'm in a very privileged position afforded by this relationship to be in a comfortable home with the means to keep doing this work at all. The main snag preventing me is really one of feeling a sense of social duty, that I ought to be doing something more useful to more people. A good friend assured me that people still need art and culture and to read about something else, but it still feels frivolous.
What I'm attempting to do is find a structure in the day where I make a little bit of progress on several things in between bouts of washing/cleaning/disinfecting everything in sight and being the killjoy who reminds the other members of the household the ease with which the novel coronavirus is spread. These are my current daily things that I do a wee bit of work on:
Feeling helpless and wanting to at least try to do something useful, I decided to face my fear of the sewing machine to get making fabric face masks. Two weeks ago I lost a whole Friday to figuring it out and trying different designs and, honestly, I felt beaten and wanted to give up. After a few days away from it and a few ideas to cut the faff and work with rather than against my means and skills, I've cracked something that is far from perfect but is workable and wearable. I now have quite an operation in progress and have started distributing them in my local area. This includes dropping some round to someone shielding while taking chemo medication who then sent me a photo of her beautiful dog, an exchange I am extremely happy with.
As I say, there's still loads of room for improvement, and my materials and kit are limited, BUT I feel less of a useless, jobless wonder and I'm expanding my skill-set. Do give me a holler if you're UK-based and would like me to send you some, or if you want to help me with supplies to keep going when mine run out.
Most importantly, please take care, be clean, be safe, and reach out if you're feeling low. If you fancy a chat I'm on Skype (peablair), Houseparty, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Facetime and so on. Virtual hugs.
If you enjoy my posts, consider donating to liberapay.com/peablair. Thank you!
I thought I'd give Damien a break this week and write something more personal. Having done 22 parts on my Treasures research without missing a week and it's now the holidays in the UK and we're in the full throes of a global pandemic, I've decided that's OK. I wanted to keep up some writing momentum, though, even if it's more of a diary entry.
My working day and week have changed substantially since my partner had to move fully to working from home and my voluntary work stopped due to lockdown (although I began self-isolating on 10 March when I recognised the need for distancing). I struggle with misophonia, a condition rooted in distress caused by certain sounds, which makes it extremely difficult for me to share a workspace, which we do at home. I need quiet to think and write, and my time for those is usually fenced off for while himself is at work. I'm aware of how tiny this gripe is and I'm in a very privileged position afforded by this relationship to be in a comfortable home with the means to keep doing this work at all. The main snag preventing me is really one of feeling a sense of social duty, that I ought to be doing something more useful to more people. A good friend assured me that people still need art and culture and to read about something else, but it still feels frivolous.
What I'm attempting to do is find a structure in the day where I make a little bit of progress on several things in between bouts of washing/cleaning/disinfecting everything in sight and being the killjoy who reminds the other members of the household the ease with which the novel coronavirus is spread. These are my current daily things that I do a wee bit of work on:
- Duolingo Spanish and Irish
- 3 segments of a free Future Learn online course
- Podcast admin or making
- Writing or text editing
- Reading (select news or journal articles, or fiction)
- Making face masks
Feeling helpless and wanting to at least try to do something useful, I decided to face my fear of the sewing machine to get making fabric face masks. Two weeks ago I lost a whole Friday to figuring it out and trying different designs and, honestly, I felt beaten and wanted to give up. After a few days away from it and a few ideas to cut the faff and work with rather than against my means and skills, I've cracked something that is far from perfect but is workable and wearable. I now have quite an operation in progress and have started distributing them in my local area. This includes dropping some round to someone shielding while taking chemo medication who then sent me a photo of her beautiful dog, an exchange I am extremely happy with.
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| Mask-making station |
Most importantly, please take care, be clean, be safe, and reach out if you're feeling low. If you fancy a chat I'm on Skype (peablair), Houseparty, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Facetime and so on. Virtual hugs.
If you enjoy my posts, consider donating to liberapay.com/peablair. Thank you!
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