If you’re like me, today’s Victorian lockdown announcement will have triggered many emotional responses. Suddenly I feel overwhelmed, uncertain, and deeply concerned for my children. Physically, I feel sick. Truth be told, I have no idea what to do with myself right now. Should I continue as usual, or go out for the last hurrah before lockdown rules kick in tonight, or will I do something fun, or maybe go join the supermarket queues and buy as much toilet paper and pasta as I can get my hands on?
Fact: none of us has the answer to this chaotic and scary situation we all find ourselves in. There is no right or wrong here; we are all individuals with unique coping mechanisms. In the end, no one knows how this whole situation will play out over the coming weeks, months, even years. So, our job right now is to sit back and watch it play out over the coming week, or however long this lockdown takes, while doing everything we can to take the appropriate actions for ourselves and the greater good of our society.
I hadn’t planned on writing about this topic but given what feels like a massive knockdown we’ve all just received, I think this is an appropriate time to come out and share a little more about me and the project I’ve been working on all year. A project highly relevant and, excitedly, due to be released very soon. I am hopeful that this project, a book, will demonstrate without any shadow of a doubt, how powerful and robust we actually are as we face yet another challenging period, another bump in our road.
Throughout 2020, I asked myself the pertinent questions many times over, as I’m sure you did, too. Why, why, why? Unfortunately, there seemed to be nothing positive to draw from the experiences of 2020; it appeared to be horrible in every possible way. And then something happened, a light shone brightly. a great surge of inspiration with a promising idea popped into my mind on New Year’s Eve 2020. You may remember previous blogs when I alluded to this great idea that evolved as I sat at home alone with my thoughts, photographs and the TV playing the news in the background. This idea is about to come to fruition.
I have chosen today as the appropriate time to share a little more about my journey through COVID-19. I can promise you there is hope. Here is a taste of what’s to come:
“Throughout a year of being isolated, witnessing horrific images on our television screens, and feeling acute fear…… I’ve come out the other side with a voice, an opinion. I no longer suppressed my voice. Yes, the pandemic helped me to find my voice and use it unapologetically.”
Resilience: The Year in Pictures
Resilience, the project that came to me on New Year’s Eve, is a photographic story about getting through one of life’s biggest challenges and making it to the other side relatively unscathed.
Just as we did last year, now is the time to once again unite and do what needs to be done, not just for ourselves but also for society. We did it once; we can do it again.
1 Comment
Congratulations Sam, will definitely purchase a copy what a fabulous achievement x Julie