In Victoria, we’re not in lockdown, we’re in a holding pattern
I can’t count the number of emails I receive at the moment where people start with, ‘This lockdown is so much harder than the others.’ For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to work out how to articulate why. It occurred to me today that the same waves of anxiety I’m occasionally feeling now are the same I get when I’m flying (I’m not the best flyer!), particularly when the plane circles before landing while the pilot awaits clearance to land. And so it hit me that in Victoria, we’re in a holding pattern. We’re experiencing that same feeling of circling without knowing when we will land or to be honest, where we will land.
Without going too much into politics, I will say this – at least NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is landing her plane. It may feel for some that they will land in Gander (this is a reference in Come from Away, a musical that has brought so much joy to people and gave me ‘all the feels’ when I saw it again in between lockdowns last year. For those of you who have seen it or know the story will understand my analogy here, and if you don’t look it up or better yet see it when you can!) but for NSW residents at least they know when they will land.
As humans, we aren’t wired to have such little direction. We are driven by purpose, making plans and taught to make conscious choices. Right now we can’t have either of these and it’s culminating in fear, anxiety, anger and despair. I’m not sure about you, but I’d feel a whole lot better if I just knew when and where the plane will land. The rest I will deal with when I’m on the ground.
