AUGUST UPDATE
Hey there, it’s been a minute. If you were unaware, we are in New Zealand! And in lockdown.
Level 4 lockdown started on Tuesday this week, and personally, I am fortunate enough that this is my first real experience of this throughout the last year and a half of COVID. Bit of a pain in the ass when we got some of the best snowfall conditions of the 2021 season on Tuesday but it is what it is. I have plenty of friends who are here now who have dodged border closures and gone through quarantine multiple times, and have many friends internationally who couldn’t be in New Zealand this season and are still in similar situations with lockdown and travel restrictions around the world, so I am very aware how lucky the situation in New Zealand is currently. Hopefully it will be relatively quick and over soon.
On the other hand though, it’s been rather nice to have a break for a few days too. As much as I am missing the snow and the ability to make as much content as I was going to this week, it has been nice to give my body a break and to try and recover from some of the aches and pains of work. It’s the first consistent time I have had off over the last two and a half months to be able to shoot and edit and organise, something that makes me feel stagnant if I don’t get the chance to as often as I would like. I’ve taken the time to actively engage, stretch and move my body in ways that will promote mobility and keep me active and able as I work harder on my fitness than before. I have a few personal and professional goals that I have started working toward, and I have also take the chance to have more rest and downtime than I usually let myself have. Sometimes that has taken up more time than I thought I would give it, others I feel productive and ready to take on the challenges I set.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is no right or wrong. You don’t have to come out of these situations with goals set and achieved, or a new hobby or an upgraded view on life. But at least try to be kind to yourself and let yourself just be. This is something I’ve struggled with over the years, and very much still do - I always feel like I need to be doing, or creating, or whatever it might be - but it is something that is getting easier to at least make myself aware about.
I hope this post might help a few people. You might not realise it or be terrible at asking for it, or just prefer to battle it out alone (hey, that’s me!), but please know that everyone is in similar positions. The world has shit itself just a little bit at the moment, but there are still amazing, beautiful things that grow from fertiliser.
Peace,
Josh. x
