Roast Chickens, Flip-Flops, Tiger King and Hope! Two weird years later and we still don’t know exactly when midnight is!
Johannesburg, South Africa (27 March 2022) – It’s been exactly two years since South Africa went into a state of emergency lockdown for 3 weeks… and those 3 weeks became 3 months, and then 6 months and here we are two years later.
Do you remember how weird it got? And then the weird just got weirder.
At first, we all forgot what midnight meant, and the government had to change the regulations to 23:59 in order for us to understand. We couldn’t buy roast chickens, or flip-flops or smoke cigarettes… because when people zol!?! But we were all making banana bread, watching Tiger King, trying our hand at pineapple beer and eventually joining the great migration every morning between 6 and 9.
It was all just surreal.
And then there were the family meetings, which started off pretty inspirational – we were all being led – and slowly, that inspiration turned to doubt and disappointment. More weird regulations, more money being stolen, more jobs being lost and still no real plan for this virus.
And do you remember those bizarre dreams? The world was collectively having the worst night’s sleep, and no one knew why? It could have been Carol Baskin, but I guess it’s because we were all dealing with something so weird – a loss of normality, loss of incomes and loss of loved ones. The world shifted, and we all kinda lost our balance.
One of the biggest realisations for me during this time is that mental health and wellness matters, and it is okay not to be okay. I spent quite a few days properly feeling my feelings and having to find a way out of the sadness.
The last two years have made me understand that we live in a very broken world where people who we love are quietly dealing with massive monsters that we know nothing about. Everyone is fighting in a fight club we know nothing about… because we don’t talk about fight club. It’s been overwhelming and incredibly tough, but I just want to remind everyone that it is okay not to be okay, and sometimes you need to take a time out, or reach out, or do whatever you need to protect yourself.
Reaching out might be the most important lesson for me. I went through many a couple of dark days, but I reached out to the world, and the outpouring of love was so intense that I could feel it wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
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Thank You to the Unnamed Heroes Who Stop to Save DogsBroken, tired & defeated. I am not okay. 2020 is taking its toll & I need something to give me hope again, I think we all do. If you’re seeing this tweet, please just leave a message of inspiration, even just a simple hello.
— Brent Lindeque (@BrentLindeque) November 6, 2020
So I want to remind you that you don’t need to do it all, and you don’t need to do it alone. If you’re feeling like it’s all too much, then reach out.
This is solid advice, and 100% worked for me.
We also cannot lose hope. The last two years can make us feel like our emotions are all over the place, and what is happening in the world can start to feel very overwhelming, but we must not forget that there is always hope!
Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things… and no good thing ever dies.
And please, please, please never stop believing in the wild possibility that is you and your impact. Live in purpose, on purpose, with hope and kindness!
I don’t have the answer as to how to fix the economy, or how to create jobs when there just aren’t any… or even how to repair our broken country, but I do believe with a little kindness and some hope, we might just be able to help each other through this.
We rise by lifting others, right? Well… kindness and hope is how we do that!
If you see someone falling behind, walk beside them. If someone is being ignored, find a way to include them. If someone has been knocked down, lift them up. Always remind people of their worth. Be who you needed when you were going through hard times.
Oh, and if you want a laugh, this was the recommendation by the Coronavirus Command Council in May 2020 on what we should all be wearing during this time… crop bottoms worn with boots and leggings – I am not joking, this was written into a lockdown regulation, approved by our leaders. How weird?!
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