A reflection on 100 days of lockdown

In years to come, the 100 days from 23 March to 30 June will quite possibly be remembered as the 100 days that changed the UK forever.

Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic - but I don't think there will be a shortage of people out there that agree with me. Lockdown has changed so much about the way we live our lives and now as we are just coming out of lockdown, a change in attitudes can already be detected. In a recent poll, only 6% of the British public surveyed said that they didn't want there to be any changes to how the economy is run post-COVID. Similar surveys have also produced stats showing a change in attitudes towards how we should live our lives more generally. It would appear that change is coming - much of it fuelled or at least accelerated by the events of the last 100 days.

In this article, I want to take a bit more of a personal reflection on lockdown - if you're looking for a more news-focused recap of the last 100 days, check out this article over at The Speaker by my colleague Calum.

I'll start this article at the start of lockdown, before looking at what I managed to achieve in the 100 days. Lockdown has taught me a lot, and others I imagine the same, so I'll also take a quick look at how I think our experiences of lockdown may shape the future

Entering Lockdown

A few weeks back there was a social media trend looking at people's last 'normal' photos taken before lockdown. The above is one of mine, taken on the evening that pubs, cafes and restaurants closed across the country - but three days before lockdown officially got underway.

It is one of my last 'normal' photos in the sense that it was taken just before lockdown, but looking at, you could already tell that 'normal' was no more. Never before had I seen the London Underground so quiet.

Rather than preparing for a trip to Malta, I found myself travelling across the country and briefly via the London Underground in an attempt to get back to the East.

Escalators - empty. Platforms - empty. Whole tube carriages - empty.

In the 30 minutes it took me to travel across London, I was able to count the number of people I saw on one hand. The eery silence said that something was up and while lockdown was yet to happen at this point, London had already been hit badly by the Coronavirus.

The first weeks of lockdown were perhaps strange more than anything. Most of us had at least some difficulties adapting to the 'new normal' and doing so against the backdrop of a rising number of daily deaths from the Coronavirus was scary. The first few weeks acted as a steep learning curve for many of us and it seems that some parts of the new normal that have been created may never be fully reversed.

Lockdown, and especially its early parts had an impact on the Mental Health of many of us. Combined with the continuing impacts of a head injury I received in January, I found the first few weeks of lockdown particularly challenging - something I've written about in more detail here.

At the start of lockdown, we didn't know how long it was going to last. Despite this, and the challenges I've described above, I wanted to make some productive use of my time during lockdown, which we're told is a once in a lifetime event.

Taking Opportunites

There should be no question about it that 2020 will go down in the history books as a terrible year. Whatever way you look at it, you can't get away from the tragic numbers and the stories of the people who have been impacted by or have lost their lives to COVID-19. However, I'm a believer in making the best out of bad situations. It would be quite understandable to sit back and do nothing in lockdown - but it wouldn't achieve anything of value.

Key workers have made some incredible contributions in recent months, but for many of us, we have stayed at home and it would seem the way we would usually look to live our lives has been inaccessible. So, there's been the need to be creative, to adapt and when they do come along, take opportunities.

For The Speaker, the past months have been busy, to say the least. We deliver top political news in an impartial, explanatory and accessible way to young audiences. The pandemic and the lockdown has seemingly led to a huge increase in interest in the news and at the start of the lockdown, the daily Downing Street briefings almost became part of families' schedules.

At The Speaker, we have of course been covering the Coronavirus pandemic, but we've also adapted. In a time of so much bad news, we recognised the desire from the public for more Good News and Inspiring Stories. Reading the stories of good news arriving in my inbox, interviewing inspirational people and learning about the lives of others during lockdown was also a welcome break for me from reporting on a growing pandemic.

From our efforts during the lockdown, we achieved 103% month-on-month growth in May and this month plenty of people described us as 'TikTok famous' after a video we posted went viral, now with over 1.2 million views. We've also worked with charities, youth movements and been one of the faces appearing on televised government press conferences - something that not so long ago might have appeared to be almost impossible.

I've not just been developing The Speaker during lockdown and helping the public to understand politics - I've also been upgrading my own knowledge and skills and am close to completing an upgraded teaching qualification. I've missed both participating in and teaching sport during the pandemic and so upgrading my qualifications has at least kept me involved me in sport in some way. I've also been cycling much more, exploring new places in the latter stages of lockdown and responsibly taking advantage of the summer weather.

Appreciation & The Future

Lockdown has taught me a lot, but one thing perhaps more than others is greater appreciation. That's not to say that I didn't appreciate things before the pandemic, but I think we never truly appreciate some things until we can't do them.

Staying at home has been difficult for many mentally, including myself and I think we have to be thankful for the digital age that we live in. While we've been disconnected in some ways from our friends and families, we've still been together virtually, or as the Charlie Puth song goes 'only one call away'.

Many of us have shown appreciation for others during the lockdown - for key workers working to keep us safe, family caring for us and friends and colleagues looking out for one another. I think, or at least hope, that as we move out of lockdown, this element of enhanced appreciation continues. So much that we've taken for granted before has been taken away by lockdown - whether its playing sports, seeing friends or just travelling freely - these are some of the things which lockdown has increased my appreciation for. And importantly, we've expressed our thanks for the NHS for working so hard always, but particularly now while we are told to stay at home.

During lockdown, I think many of us have been more open with each other about our feelings and what we've been going through - this has certainly been the case for me and others I know. Tragically, people have been lost to COVID long before their time, reminding many of us to appreciate more and more the time we have with each other.

As we move out of lockdown, some elements of the new normal will likely stick and questions about how we live and act will be asked. Do businesses actually need large office spaces anymore? Could we actually cycle more often rather than use public transport? Should we spend more time with friends and family?

Trying to predict the future is perhaps not such a good use of time, but reflecting on the past is important. This article is a written reflection of how I've spent some of my time in lockdown and what it has taught me. Many of us will have subconsciously been thinking about lockdown and how it has changed our lives - writing things down can often help us to remember them more in the future, learn from them and make a success out of our future, whatever it may hold.

Comment below what you've learnt during lockdown - do we share some of the same thoughts...?