Social Distancing #41
Ellie Walker @barraacudaa 

London UK, April, 2020 .

“I've been in isolation in London for nearly a month and before that I was quarantined on a beach in Panama. After the initial shock of lockdown settled, I’ve found it has been weirdly peaceful time. 
Removing myself from the hustle of being freelance has been a welcome vacation for my brain. I used to travel a lot for work and never had a chance to settle for long without packing a bag to somewhere so I'm relishing being in one place, even if its not actually my home! We’ve discovered so many new green spaces in South London by bike and I've developed cliched new hobbies like foraging and baking. I may not be very good at either yet but no one has been poisoned which is a good start. 
I'm trying not to worry too much about the future as it feels so out of my control. Instead I’m learning to ride the strangeness. I'm daily checking in on loved ones and I worry about others at this time without a space to be safe, financially or physically. I hope our sense of community grows through this and our societal barriers and borders begin to dissolve. I hope society isn’t able to return to how it was as it had become quite a terrifying all consuming emotionless beast. I hope we learn to have more sympathy and support for our neighbours and realise we need do less to be happy. I hope I learn to make great banana bread and can share it with you all at the epic party that will bloom when all this ends.” - Ellie Walker