This lockdown is different. This is the Angry Lockdown. I can’t speak for other parts of the world, or other parts of Australia, but here in Sydney the goodwill and stoicism that marked earlier lockdowns is gone. Irritation and impatience are ever-present.
Australia was meant to be special. New South Wales was meant to be special. That we are part of the globe, during the global pandemic is an unwelcome realty.
The finish line was so close. We just needed a few more months for a swift, orderly vaccination drive. Then we could simply open society up again and resume life where we left off in March 2020.
This is the Angry Lockdown. And anger is an externalising emotion. And there are always others to blame. Politicians, rulebreakers, anti-vaxers and conspiracists.
Friends and family are targets of anger too. They are too loose with their adherence to rules, or not sympathetic enough to our suffering, or they urge a stronger lockdown, or are dismissive of the effectiveness of lockdowns. Anyone who thinks differently to us could be a target – and everyone does think differently to one another sometimes. So, everyone becomes a target.
What can we do about it? What else can we talk about with others? Covid is the only show in town. It affects all of our lives. It is front and centre of out eyeballs when we consume news. Impossible for Covid to not define our reality and relationships.
Right?
It is a privilege to be able to feel anger rather than vulnerable emotions. Anger makes us feel powerful, and it is also the emotion of the powerful.
During the first lockdown, we felt we had no choice but to experience the horrible helplessness engendered by this strange new disease. But then, we got lucky. The angel of death passed by our door. Our hopeless expectations changed. We believed ourselves above it all. It felt good, powerful, lucky.
So, what can we do about our anger? Accept that we are not special. Accept we are not invincible. Accept we are not perfect (let he who is without sin cast the first stone).
Accept that we don’t have power over others. Hectoring and ridiculing those on social media has a paradoxical effect. Accept that we can’t change the politicians (until the election, and even then…). Accept that we can’t make time go faster, or reverse actions previously taken.
When we accept that we are powerless, anger dissolves. However, then we are left with vulnerable emotions: fear, dread, sadness, hopelessness. How to we cope with feeling exposed and defenceless?
Turn off and tune out of Covid. You are more than the virus. Your relationships are more than the virus. Reality is much larger and vaster than the virus. Stuff is happening all the time, all the while we focus on Covid. Big stuff, small stuff. Plenty of better things upon which to train your attention. Plenty of other ways to define your reality.
Stop clicking on Covid news. Make conversations with loved ones Covid-free. And never waste time on the Covid-based opinions and actions of people you haven’t met…
(and that’s my cue to stop writing about the Coronavirus, Covid-19)