Essay 21: Too Early For Optimism

It may be naive to look for positivity; as services creak, businesses stall and deaths mount. But there’s also a risk we’ll regret we didn’t dare to dream early enough. That we didn’t ask what the opportunity part of the paradox is with time left to make it happen, while the moment lasts.

My south London street on lockdown, suddenly the most neighbourly it’s ever been.

What part in all this are we going to to play? Easy to ask, less easy to answer. What part have I played since the new normal became a low-rent BBC disaster movie with furloughed EastEnders extras playing politicians?

<<<Update: Since publishing, response has huge and question is HOW we translate optimism into action, so 6 questions looking for 1 line answers to inform next essay here: https://sam774431.typeform.com/to/Ulm0uS >>

In truth, a week ago, the role I’d played was inadvertently scare my children by being stressed and listening to the news too often. What I’d done was panic as I watched nearly all of my hard-fought-for contracts for the entire year evaporate in a few days. What I’d done was make things…