Life In Self Isolation
The world is grinding to a halt, or put another way — coming to an emergency stop. No one quite knows how long it will last or how to kickstart it afterwards. Governments are throwing immense sums of money at a crisis they can’t manage, and many of us are in a self-isolating holding pattern waiting for the weakest to fall.
Last week, Boris Johnson informed the nation that “many of our loved one’s will die”, without clear guidance how to prevent such a tragedy, yet across the Channel our European cousins shutdown all non-essential activities to save lives, while our government seemed to suggest it had adopted a “herd Immunity” strategy, which could be misconstrued as letting 60% of the population catch a disease that’s deadly to the weak and infirm. Some may say that this is a great way to save on health service costs and get rid of a particularly uneconomic part of the population.
So, with the world in the grips of a deathly virus, panic buying ensues, international borders are closed, and people are being advised to work from home, where does that leave people like me?
My skills and experience can sometimes make it hard to find permanent roles, but I am often parachuted into situations to save the day. Yes, I’m part of that ever growing statistic — the gig economy, or self-employed.
While it may seem like I’m self-isolating at home to improve my chances of staying healthy enough to get my next gig, that’s not quite the full story. Over the past ten years, my days, nights, weeks, years have been filled with juggling several concerns that keep me active, and generate a trickle stream of income helping me to stay afloat. For starters, there’s an award winning 9th graphic novel series that’s being written and illustrated, a sculpture park in California that we’re crowdfunding, the college lectures that I teach, the conventions and conferences where I sell my creative endeavours, and the nightclubs and parties where I DJ — every single one of these avenues is closed at the moment.
All my respective revenue streams require close proximity, which goes against the current advice of social distancing. I played at a private party over the weekend, people kept coming up to give me ‘hi-fives’ — not responding would have been rude.
Lack of proper guidance has led to confusion. The underground party scene is full of youngsters who believe they are immune, thanks to government advice. Almost every world leader claims their decisions are guided by ‘science’, but it’s rather strange that scientists in the UK are weeks behind their colleagues in Europe.
Where do we go from here? There’s a huge global workforce staying indoors earning zero, needing help to survive until the next ‘lord knows when’. Many of these people grease the wheels that turn your world, yet you’d hardly know, until now, when things grind to a halt.
Be kind, be safe, be helpful. Reach out to the self-isolating neighbour, friend or colleague. See if there are elderly or unwell people in your ‘hood that need help, and if you have enough for you and yours, there’s no need to panic buy.
As for me… I’ll be learning something new until it is safe to venture outdoors.