What I was doing naturally, and regularly, one short year ago:

• spontaneously sharing stories, jokes, recipes; handshakes, and hugs;
• enjoying large and extended family celebrations
• having healthy and happy conversations, with friends and strangers in their homes, on the street or in the shops
• spontaneously extending and accepting invitations for coffee or a glass of wine or a walk in the woods
• playing volleyball with 35 wonderful women
• going to concerts and listening to fabulous music
• mingling with the crowds on the boardwalk, or at the market, or in a restaurant
• seeing an abundance of welcoming greetings and smiling faces
• volunteering at my favourite Thrift Shops for Nova for a few hours a week
• hearing lots of conversation and laughter everywhere
• being my sociable self
• feeling joy at being alive and healthy and free to live my life

What I’ve sacrificed:

• precious time, now spent on forced, regulated, unnatural and unhealthy behaviours
• the efficiency of normal, everyday transactions online, on the telephone and in person
• valuable time with family and friends
• the right to think, and speak, and act – honestly, freely and spontaneously
• the freedom to go where I want, when I want and with whom I want, and buy whatever I consider essential to me – with cash if I choose
• unfettered joy
• fresh air in my lungs at all times

Emotions I struggle with as a result:

• frustrations, anxiety, discouragement, despair, bitterness, sadness, emptiness
• stress at not being able to be honest and real with people
• disbelief at what is being regulated – and accepted – and policed
• anger at being forced to adhere to illogical rules
• anger at myself because I comply