I am a creature of habit, like many of us are. I feel that lockdown has rather accelerated the habitual nature, certainly for me. I have got into my routine, albeit it fairly limited at present, and it is easy to forget that the rest of the big wide world exists sometimes. Lockdown has made many of us become fairly insular and while such a state was entered into with trepidation a year ago, it has now become the norm and the thought of venturing out of it again can feel quite a daunting prospect.
We seem to have a barrage of uncertainties thrust upon us every day- every changing Covid rules, health uncertainties relating to the vaccine, Prince Philip passing away, the list goes on. We are, therefore, having to constantly adjust. Maybe, in a world filled with so much uncertainty as we have at present, we cling to the little shreds of certainty that we can find- our routine, our jobs, our family.. more strongly than we would otherwise- rather like the protagonist in my book, Five Feet Apart, who suffers from the chronic illness of cystic fibrosis and lives by a list of ‘to do’s’ which gives her a sense of control over her life when she has little control over her health or the turn of events in other ways.
While I feel that routine is important I was once told by a friend that ‘the only certainty in life is uncertainty.’ It takes courage to embrace the uncertain- for me leaving a well paid teaching job to be a penniless author was a serious leap of faith and one I sometimes question the sense of. But, if one stays in your comfortable routine for too long we can stagnate. Life is, or should be, a constant journey of moving on- how do we learn otherwise?
We are always trying to find our paradise, our slice of heaven, the opportunity to live our best life and project the best version of ourselves onto the world each day and that isn’t achieved by sitting still. Change is always a little scary but can be fun too. I am certainly looking forward to embracing the opportunity for change wherever I can find it.
