THE LUCKIEST SERPIE IN LOCKDOWN

THE LUCKIEST SERPIE IN LOCKDOWN
 Last week as I sat down to write this piece my phone rang. It was Nick, a winemaker by trade and one of my oldest friends. We have been close since the early 1990’s when he gambled his career on joining my incipient wine business. Its subsequent success was in no small part down to him. 
An Australian, Nick is usually upbeat and bouncy. Not this time. I immediately heard the wobble in his voice. My instinctive “How are you mate?” was met with “Well, not so good Jerry”. Nick was calling to tell me that Andy B had died the day before. Andy had been one of our sales team. Now in his mid-50’s, he was a jovial, kind, smiling, enjoy life kind of guy. No athlete, but far from a couch potato.
I immediately thought Covid. But no. Andy died of a heart attack while cycling in the traffic free lanes around the village where he lived in Yorkshire. He loved cycling.
I was well into my fifties before anyone I was close to died, other than very elderly relations. Now that I am striding through my sixties, the bell tolls more often. Losing anyone is a heartbreak, including those who have had a good innings. The passing of those who die before their time - like Andy - is unfair and hard to process. It is always accompanied by that loud claxon in our heads sounding out ‘Carpe Diem’. As if we needed reminding: our time is limited, we should make the most of what we have. Living with Covid is a daily reminder of that timeless truth.
I think I must be the luckiest Serpie in lockdown.
In mid-March - pretty much the last minute for accessible air travel - my partner and I decided to flee to our holiday home in the hills of western Mallorca for the duration of the lockdown. We have exchanged an apartment in populated London for a more spacious house with a garden in the countryside. Except for occasional tradesmen, and a lovely neighbour who lives on her own 800 metres up the hill, there is no one around. Chances of infection are extremely low. The local village has just been declared Covid free.
Until this week, the Spanish lockdown has been much stricter than the British, restricting us to our home except for trips to buy food or meet medical needs, enforced by patrolling police with the power to issue €600 fines. We have been going shopping once a week, otherwise staying put on our own with social and work contact limited to the video conferencing apps we all use. 
The Government here recently announced a four-phase plan to gradually lift the lock down by the end of June. This will be implemented regionally depending on how well each locality is overcoming Covid, and how well their health infrastructure can cope. Things are gradually opening again in our area. Th great news is that we are now allowed to exercise beyond our home boundary. I have come to respect, even like, the undulating, uneven, stony path within my garden that has been my athletics track for the past 6 weeks, but running again on trails through the hills and along the spectacular coast road is pure joy.
One of many benefits of locked down life here has been the time I have available for Positive News. I am a pro bono director of this small but influential co-operatively owned social business which does what the name suggests – it covers stories about the good things going on in the world. This does not mean fluffy stories about cats being rescued from trees, but robust coverage of key issues of our time from a positive perspective. Positive News uses “constructive journalism” – a new approach focused on progress, possibility and solutions
The truth - if that word can still be used in a news context - is that most people, in most places are living good lives most of the time. While the war in Yemen or Syria, the mounting threat from climate change, or the Covid pandemic are awful events, the response to them of many people and organisations is inspiring and uplifting. Neighbourhood help schemes, clapping the health workers, and the extraordinary response to Captain (now Colonel) Tom Moore’s fundraising all show the best in people. In many areas of society real progress is being made.
The mental health threat posed by the Covid situation is obvious to us all. Making sure we balance our exposure to bad news with the good news that is still going on in the world is key.  
For me, and I suspect for many of us, one of the dangers of the lockdown experience is feeling that life is on pause, that I am waiting for it to finish before I can get on with life again. I now understand this is a bad mindset – quite literally a waste of time. Thinking of Andy on his bike in Yorkshire reminds me to use the time I have, and to do so in a way that I find fulfilling and purposeful. Working to help Positive News grow at a time when it has never been so needed, and writing this piece, do both of those in spades.
Run well everyone, in your heads and hearts as well as your feet.
If you’d like to find out about how to subscribe and our current crowd funding project for the NHS please contact me, Jerry Lockspeiser, or visit our website, https://www.positive.news


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