BY LISA JONES
I came ‘home’ for just a few weeks, it was never meant to turn into 5 months here. My travel plans were halted, courses I was due to take part in postponed or cancelled and the months of exploring I had laid out ahead of me crumbled.
For most people life got turned upside down and we were all thrown into total uncertainty of what came next and when. We still are in that space, who knows what the rest of this bizarre year will bring.
As I look back over the last months having celebrated my 48th birthday in lockdown and finding myself living with my parents, there are many amazing lessons I have learnt and I’d love to share them with you.
- Here in Spain is a great community. The life here is generally easy (well as easy as you want to make it, but that applies to everywhere in the world). There are clubs and organisations and events and even when you find yourself on your own people are here for each other.
- Language is an issue – the Spanish like it if we can speak their language and I can’t say I can blame them! Must make more effort to learn!
- The health system is generally damn good, and the responsibility is with the family to look after each other. On the whole a great thing, I have seen though that there is a lacking if there is no family, hence need for community!
- Old people have a lot to give with their stories, experiences, insights and what they lived through. We don’t want to hear it from our parents though, much easier to listen to someone else other than them!
- Communication changes; it has been hard for me to slow my speech down and announce my words clearer!
- Parents are (mostly) always there for us kids at any age and often it can be too late before we realise that…. happy to say that is not the case for me and I am grateful for lockdown. Hoping that lesson is learnt by others too.
- Being with your family is the biggest and steepest and hardest learning curve into oneself! And a huge lesson in patience!.
- Health – physical and mental really is more important than wealth
- Community and sharing and having people to care for and care for us truly is invaluable.
I’d love it if some of my insights have had your head nodding! And I encourage you to think of your own. It is easy for us to dip into the negative of the current situation, but that really doesn’t help! So hey let’s all look on the brighter side, check in on each other, maybe meet new neighbours and simply be kind to each other – we are all going through stuff and we don’t know what that may be for others. A smile and a hello go a long way in making someone’s day …
