Diary Entries

Coronavirus Poem This year the world has gone through a weirdo phase Unnecessary deaths, horrible moments for some people But mostly for people with an older age The way I look at this crisis It brings misery to my day. For instance you are gathering with your family All about good times but knowing there is an irritating rule that you have to be 1.5 metres away. I know this is disgusting what we are going through But I have faith in us humans That we know what we have to do. I am a young man who has made mistakes in my life But due to this Coronavirus OUTBREAK It not gonna stop me from keep moving forward and to keep doing what's right So I send my love to the ones who have suffered and are still suffering.

THE ECSTASY OF LIVING Life vibrates. Colours sing like flashes of light winking from a diamond: emerald, scarlet, gold! The high sounds of a violin swell and drip and flow sweeter than fresh honey. My skin purrs all over like a cat stretching. Love catches and calls and my whole skin cries out to be stroked by a lover, snuggled under a cloud of feathery doona. I raise my arms high and turn my interlinked hands out to breathe out and stretch luxuriously like a bat soaring through the sky at dusk to a feast of fresh fruit hanging on trees, ripe to bite. The smell of a white peach tempts my tongue. Petals of the lilli-pilli fall over me like small tendrils of fragrant creamy hair. I rock from sleep to waking as easily as lungs expand in salt-laden air and all of me rejoices that yes, yes, I am alive.

Lockdown for two whole months has been a double-edged sword. I mean, I know that the Covid-19 Pandemic is the whole reason we have to stay home to stay safe, but it's not all that bad. There's is light at the end of every tunnel. My family and I realised that when we finally took up the initiative to clean up the garage. We found lot's of new opportunities to finally relax as a family, and to be honest, I don't feel extremely bored at the time. Yes, sometimes all I want to do is leave my house and go outside to breathe some fresh air, but it's not always like that. Sometimes I just want to cuddle up under the blanket and read my (digital) book or watch TV/movies. Home-schooling is not that bad either, because we can take regular breaks (be in our pyjamas the whole day ^_^ ), and wake up at 9am instead of 7, but I do miss being with my friends, laughing all day, which is why on Thursday, it was fun to see my friends face-to-face and have a good laugh after 2 WHOLE MONTHS! I'm not saying staying at home is the best thing in the world, but at least it gives us time to relax after 9 weeks of hard work - aka school.

I thought staying at home was gonna be easy, unfortunately not. I have never realised how much I loved going out until i had lost the opportunity to. Last week, we finally started phase one and could go to school once a week. I actually enjoyed it so much. I have gotten almost all my work done. If i stayed at home i would have procrastinated. I was really happy to see my friends again too. We made sure we spent our day as fun but with social distancing included. I personally believe i work better at school while everyone around me is working too. Online school has its pros and cons. I'm getting much more sleep and I'm a lot less tired than i would be if i were to go school every morning so it helps me use my brain more efficiently. But then online school, i think they give way more work than they usually would. I find it a lot harder to concentrate since there are so many things that could lead me to distraction. At school we would always have a teacher looking out if we have any troubles or if we are not messing around, but at home there is no teacher to do that. Although i hate waking up extremely early for school, i do love seeing my friends and having face to face interactions with them. Learning is so much easier at school. At home, i have a lot of time to myself but everyday feels like repetition. I hope soon, we could go back to school normally and maybe start school at 10. Just kidding, i would love to go back normally and have this pandemic to end and find a cure ASAP.

Dear fellow reader, If I'm being completely honest, I REALLY miss school. But I've also found that quarantine has allowed me to figure out which people I'm friends with just because I see them 5 times a week, but I don't mean that in a rude way. I've been spending my days at home with my pets as well as completing all my homework. Occasionally I might text one or two people if they even bother talking to me. I also don't know if it's just happening to me, but I've realised that a lot of people create a different persona when texting compared to who they actually are in real life. For example, I have one 'friend' who texts like she's superior and cool, but in person she acts completely different. Quarantine is making me feel super lonely and I just want to go back to school so that I can socialise with people and it makes it a lot easier to ask for help when I'm having trouble with work. The workload at home isn't even that bad either, however it's hard to stay focussed sometimes. The free time however has given me enough time to bake lots of things. So far I've made cheesecake twice, baked brownies, lemon slices, and I've even made two crepe cakes. So although I may feel lonely, I've been able to spend a lot of time getting closer to God and focussing on myself and I feel happier in a sense like my mindset is in quite a good place. I know I won't always be happy, so i'm just gonna cherish these moments and not take them for granted :).

Quarantine is boring With not much exploring During this pandemic We focus on academic Computors instead of tutors Things get replaced Like a spill on a dress Things turn in to a mess Every day is pain Leaving no time to entertain And today is just another day Just like yesterday With no change.

Fear, the fear of the unknown is powerful. As a vulnerable individual, I always dread getting sick, but I do not let that fear control what I do, until now. During SARS in 2003 I flew to Hong Kong against medical advice. I stated “I would rather die having lived my life, rather than living a life not worth living.” In the year 2020 a new much more hostile virus has taken hold on an unprepared world. COVID-19 has given me greater concern about continuing life as normal. A disease that is hidden but so easily spread can and does create a new level of fear. The best cause of action to reduce the level of exposure is to stay home. While this action is beneficial for the individual and wider community in a pandemic, the necessity of isolation is a double edge sword. “I would rather die having lived my life, rather than living a life not worth living.” Now seems a romantic dream, but one I hope to be able to return to soon. To have your freedom removed goes against all human rights generations fought to achieve; finding ways to live your life in a different way should be the 2020 focus. Do I want to die from COVID-19? No. However, do I want to live a life that feels unfulfilled? No. Fear will be overcome, isolation will be overcome but only when a balance can be found to maintain our normal lives of the past while we work to limit the COVID-19 spread. I fear the balance will never be found. What I fear the most is that a vaccine may never be found and I will live a life unfulfilled. I truly hope there is a light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel.

Be careful what you wish for Be careful what you wish for, it may not be that nice Weeks in isolation with tins of baked beans, bags of rice. You thought if life could just slow down with time to smell the roses who knew the strangest side effect would be the failing of our noses? Be careful what you wish for, it may not be that good Crowds gathered round the beaches and throughout the neighbourhood. We wanted time in our day for exercise and weights Sadly, we didn’t realise there would be no space for mates. Be careful what you wish for, it may not be that grand A quiet ANZAC day upon us without the marching band. Our solemn ode to pay respect to those we are in debt Has only three words we can repeat – Lest We Forget. Be careful what you wish for, it may a curve ball The once abundant bank account balance is quite small. Those who work as check out chicks, doctors, teachers’ heroes We all now realise proudly their pay deserves more zeros. Be careful what you wish for, it may be what you need Time to gather thoughts, to decrease virtual speed Finding time with loved ones, reconnecting with a friend Laughing, chatting listening, we hope that time suspends. Be careful what you wish for, it’s coming to an end Life speeds by, work goes back and it’s back to who knows when. So take the time, look left, look right, the stars at night above The story that your grandkids hear will be of resilience and love.

Dealing with anger today. I self-motivated to do an online class. First exercise in weeks. Helped somewhat. I miss my regular yoga instructor at the local YMCA. My feet hurt. Arthritis is painful. I cannot walk very far. I miss swimming so much. The freedom to float free of pain. The ocean baths are now open but the water is too cold for my bones. The sport I watch had the season cut short. Nobody minds when I yell my frustrations during a game. I miss it. I clean something in my place. It is more productive than thinking about what I need. Sometimes I wish I could work from home during this time. My work days are longer, doing more with less people, and claiming overtime is discouraged. I come home to my safe space, clean and scrub myself and hope I have not caught or spread The Virus. I check my temperature. All good. My job also involves keeping morale up for others. I am glad I do not have to do this today. I have kept myself away from family for 7 weeks. They struggle more than me. I am happy being home alone. I am never bored. Now I am grateful I have a day I can fill however I want. I am doing well.

Just 60 days since my life changed. As I walked away from the university campus in late March, I slowly realised it would be quite a long time before I returned. I thought it was going to be easy. Hearing from what had occurred overseas, both from traditional and social media platforms, I drew the conclusion that this virus could not be shrugged off. The first time I knew about this virus was in early January, at a family gathering my young cousin told me that there was a new ‘plague’ that had began to spread in China, however, i too shrugged at it, reassuring him that we had access to modern medicine. I took no notice. Since the beginning of isolation, I’ve carried on with my studies, days blending with each other, the week becoming more mundane than previous one, with the exception of walking to keep a healthy mind. Talking to friends over the phone has become the main method of communication, whilst I still prefer face-to-face interaction, you get used to the buffering and slow internet speeds. Overall, I count myself lucky that I have not contracted this virus to date, though I am concerned about the wellbeing of relatives whom live in the outskirts of Milan. I believe this period is truly historical, as like the end of the Great War, the outcome may lead to a very different world. Combining the features of the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression and the Cold War into a few months, would seem to make our old normality much harder, and longer, to obtain again. If this may unfortunately occur again, do learn from us.