Long Covid

My intention was to write, in upbeat terms, about our soon to be resumption of normality. Instead, I write in a state of despondency.

Lockdown has been stressful. It is not just that, for much of the past year, newspapers have published an endless enforced diet of scare stories, but that this diet of economic decline has been served up with significant restrictions on individual liberty. The last year has been one of dislocation, the lockdown cycle palling into monotony as restrictions rise and fall like the reported infection rates so routinely published.

What are we all actually looking forward to? A truly dystopian world? Government have now learnt that people will put up with being put under house arrest by a mixture of scaremongering and law enforcement, legitimate debate can be quashed by big pharma and big tech. People can be coerced into injecting themselves with what others have decided is good for us or we lose basic freedoms like travel and social intercourse.

Stuck in our living rooms, where we are forced to work and relax, many of us have lost our sense of purpose. Worse still, we have totally lost sight of our place in nature; the fractious relationship with the natural world has been strained only further by protracted periods indoors. The late philosopher Alan Watts was fond of arguing that humans are inclined to define themselves as being separate from nature – just imagine how we would react to having spent nearly a full year indoors.

A similar point is made by Wim Hof, whose book The Wim Hof Method I recommend to everyone, when he talks of how ‘humankind has yet to find its place in the natural order’. Hof argues a ‘return to the light’, where the process of ‘self-actualisation’ would enable individuals to ‘become the king or queen [they] were meant to be’ whilst also seeing a ‘return to a state of harmony with nature’ is long overdue. Hof is correct. Those of us who feel disempowered ought to use this time productively: to engage in helpful introspection to truly harness our consciousness and direct ourselves back towards the light.

Hof believes this can be partly achieved through his breathing method, which enabled him to complete barefoot marathons above the Artic Circle. I can attest to the health benefits of his breathing regime (and the cold showers) but for those unconvinced, the process of self-actualisation can be initiated differently.

Reflecting on that which we have achieved over the last year, and visualising how we plan to spend the months ahead productively will help remind us of our boundless potential. Reading, too, or seeking self-improvement from some other source – yoga, painting or cooking for instance – can help rediscover the sense of purpose lost and ensure a reconnection with our soul and the natural. It is an affirmation of Carl Yung’s idea that inner exploration is one of the most fruitful journeys on which a human can embark. To borrow his phrase: "This inner world is truly infinite, in no way poorer than the outer one. Man lives in two worlds".

Am I for real? Do I do the breathing and the cold showers? Yes, most of the time. I still squeal like a girlie when the shower is put on. Am I still showing up? Yes. Do I read and cook? Yes. Do I work out? Yes. Have I written a Book? Yes. Am I good at meditating and self-improvement? Not very. Am I professionally distressed and as worried about the future as I was about lockdown? Yes. I am sick to death of coping mechanisms and putting a brave face on it all – Cry Freedom.

The grandfather of sociology Max Weber argued that economic development led to individual isolation, a situation later dubbed ‘iron cages’. The day-to-day homeworking grind will leave many feeling sympathetic to this view. But, if we focus on the months ahead and spend our time productively, we can hope to achieve some cerebral emancipation from our mental iron cages, and, with it, the revolution and return to nature that Hof champions.

Another great and underrated thought leader, Bob Marley, said “None but ourselves can free our minds”. We have to start there. It is tough, but it is humanity’s only option. Then we need to act, in every lawful way possible. Since when did British bobbies pin and cuff ladies in masks bearing flowers?