Growing Old – Lock Down Day 23

Waking up today left me wondering what day it was as each day seems to slip into the next, without structure it is easy to let these little details slip by. Aware I was on day 23 of lock down I found myself not knowing what date it was, with nothing in my calendar I guess my only awareness is that of which I focus on. Although I woke to this confusion, I should have realised as I had that Monday morning feeling, struggling to get myself into gear. The oppressive weather is not helping, I have never known it to last this long before, either in UK or Spain, yes you do get a few days or just before a storm but it has lasted during this whole lock down period bar an odd day where the sun came out for a while, soon to be thick clouds again. Even the evenings have felt the same and with the unusual prolonged rain we have had, the air hasn’t cleared.

This is surprising, we expected clearer air as the pollution levels shown by satellites have dropped. Some people are talking of hearing planes at night, with the talk of maybe something is being sprayed in the air! And what could it be? I myself haven’t heard them as I am a deep sleeper. If this is true, I find myself again longing for a world in which truth is a virtue and information is open and communicated. We cant always blame local authorities as sometimes they too are not informed, as in a case a while back of spraying from the skies, where they had to try to find the source, it turned out to be spraying of crops without prior notification or permissions from officials.

Truth and openness I feel is paramount for a fair and just society to thrive, where open communications and discussions are had around the care of our people and the planet as a whole. The statement of “We are all in this together” is true in that the virus doesn’t discriminate between race or creed, but the truth is we are not all equal within this. Whilst we see many celebrities, wealthy or public figures receiving tests, most doctors and nurses don’t have access to testing unless they are sick, and the luxury of isolation is only possible for those with a home, not for the billions of people who live in slums and shacks around the globe. This inequality is a true crisis deserving the same attentions and focus as the virus, working towards ending this shameful fact of society. When I say equality I don’t mean literally as there will always be some form of structured society.

Just a few months ago parents warned their children that if they didn’t study hard they would end up stacking shelves in a supermarket! We have now discovered that this job is an essential part of society’s foundations without which we really would be in crisis, and cleaners are the foundations on which offices, factories and all businesses can function healthily and efficiently. We have learnt these people who were judged to have no qualification, no goals or aims in life contribute more to society as a whole than some of the executives or shareholders above them, businesses would fall apart without them. As such they deserve a decent living wage to afford them a home and food for their families, not zero contracts and below basic living wages like we now see in all parts of the world. This calculation of a basic wage often bears no reality to the true cost of living with many omitting housing costs in their calculations.

This is true of many professions in western society working on a minimum wage of 60 to £70 a day. The first page I found on high wages was a celebrity one, it showed some footballers start from around £6,000 and up to £342,600 a day! Surely its insanity that one person is worth nearly 5,000 times more than one who keeps the foundations of society running, especially as when it comes down to it, we can do away with one but the other is essential! Who is worth more? Nobody questions wealth, but we do, and have done for a while now questioned excessive wealth which is gained at the expense of others poverty. In society this question has prevailed since the bank bail outs and ongoing austerity measures that have ensued. This extreme gap needs to lessen with the needs of those on the bottom being cared for, in most cases there are still huge profits to be made if this was the case. After all what is any work? Whether you choose to study, specialise or not – it is hours of your life! Of which all humans have the same in any one day, we each give up these hours of our life to work, playing our part in creating a functioning society which should work for all, without anybody suffering.

I hold onto faith and hope that we are heading into a better future, this may take time of course and not without a fight from those whose bottom line is excessive profits etc. but we may find ourselves starting out on a path of change as nothing can be “normal” again after the lessons we are all learning in Isolation. I hope you hold on to this faith too, and wherever you are in the World I hope you find peace in your heart and love for all the goodness that is emerging in society, stay safe and take precautions to protect yourself and loved ones including taking care of your mental health 💜