This is my lockdown journal. But really, I'd like to talk about your experience of the pandemic.
What are the biggest changes you've had to deal with? What's your 'new normal' like?
A year from now, what will you remember most clearly?
I began journalling in March, a little earlier than the start of UK lockdown, on the first day that I switched to working from home.
I decided to write about everything, from the government announcements to our own experiences in this house.
Why?
At first, because I thought it would be interesting to have a record to look back on. I started writing it primarily so I could one day show my son, who's too young to understand what's happening, but who may well ask about it in the future.
As time goes on though, I'm glad that I'm writing it for myself as well. What's struck me, more and more, is that while we are united by this global event, our experiences of it are all very different. Your daily life may look very different from mine. You may have a different pace, different worries, different things that make you smile.
Some of us are isolated right now, while others are desperate for some alone time! Some might be busier than they've ever been, while others are searching for a fulfilling way to spend their time. I think it's important to remember that we are all writing different stories.
I want to make sure I remember. I want to remember the highs and lows, and in particular the little details I'll probably have forgotten a year from now. How it took three different shopping trips to find nappies. Counting the days in self-isolation and the disorienting experience of losing my sense of smell. Teaching my parents how to share screens on a Skype call!
I'd like to encourage anyone (although only if you think it might be helpful) to keep some sort of record of this time. Because it's your story. It doesn't have to be pages and pages of a journal. It could be a daily photo, a few lines typed on your phone, or a letter to your future self about what you want to remember from this time.
And one day, we can share our stories, listen and learn from one another.