Vodka and Tonic Time 03/05/2020

8pm. Thursday. England. 

For the nation, during the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic, this has come to signify families across the country standing, clapping at the end of their driveways in support of the NHS. For the Mensah-Dabb family, it means 5 minutes until vodka and tonic time (after we've partaken in the clapping of course).

For a group of adults who are all of the legal drinking age, and each of whom happens to have a certain affinity for vodka, aided by the numerous weeks spent in quarantine, its nothing short of a miracle that we haven’t breached this respectable drinking time. I accredit the self-restraint of my family members to the fact that my parents have been working from home 9-5 Monday through Friday at their public sector jobs. This basically involves them both sat in front of their respective  computer screens with no interruptions except perhaps the half an hour for lunch which brings my step-mum out from the depths of the study (it's not as middle class as it sounds) and the hour of daily exercise my dad engages in - only if he’s sufficiently covered enough of his self-invented to do list. Similarly, the deadline for my brother’s Cambridge university dissertation is rapidly approaching which has been keeping him occupied. Honestly by the time 8pm rolls around, especially on a Thursday evening, otherwise known as the new Friday, I think they’ve all more than earned a glass of wine, or several, with dinner. 

As for myself, honestly I’m not really sure how I’ve been frittering away the hours of the day, but pass by they do and evening after evening a vodka and orange just seems to end up in my hand. Only the one though, I’m saving myself so that in true geordie fashion once we’re actually allowed out again my best mate and I can get well and truly smashed. (I’m joking of course, partly).

After god only knows how many weeks of lockdown we’ve endured so far, I’m only vaguely concerned that I’ll look back on this time as a period of my life almost ‘lost’. Especially on social media, which admittedly I’ve been spending probably an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through, but who hasn't? There seems to be a controversiality around how we should be using this time. Particularly the typically “creative” people seem torn between the pressure of being as uber-productive and prolific as is humanly possible, and just taking this global ‘pause’ to chill out and have some me-time. Personally, I think as is the case with most things, ideally we should find some sort of balance between the two. As obvious as it seems, to me the most important thing should be prioritising mental health and doing what works for you. 

I understand that sometimes it is difficult for people to get motivated and have any sort of routine, especially in the current uncomfortable circumstances, and therefore at the end of the day when the guilt begins to settle in that all you’ve done all day is watch re-runs of ‘Supersize Vs Superskinny’, a little reminder that not every minute has to be spent productively, can be greatly appreciated. However on the other hand, it seems to me that there’s a danger that this monotony could actually be detrimental to people, especially those who suffer with poor mental health which can be negatively affected by this extended period of social distancing. I don’t want to pretend I’m any sort of expert on the issue because I’m absolutely not and obviously everyone’s minds work differently. That being established, to me it seems that perhaps the best medium is to try and be kind to ourselves. That means allowing ourselves to ‘couch-potato’ for an hour (or several) but also try and go outside even if only for a 20 minute walk every day. Don’t get me wrong, I highly doubt that I will emerge from this quarantine a pro-chef, budding novelist and deft, fully actualised yogi who has achieved peak physical and spiritual health through daily restorative practice. Thats not to say that every now and again I can’t cook a meal for my family, knock out a blog post and stretch for 30 minutes. If nothing else just for my own sanity. Even I get begin to get a bit restless after the 3rd or 4th food-swap related breakdown.