A large crowd of people stood quietly on the Wexford quays at 3:00 pm yesterday showing solidarity with the suffering of the Ukrainian people. In front of them lay the Wexford fishing fleet, rocking gently while tied up in the harbour. Young and old stood silently with many clutching bunches of freshly picked bright yellow daffodils. The few words that were spoken were largely lost to the wind but one could guess the content. I caught the sound of a young female singer’s voice and recognised “Boolavogue” and then “The Boys of Wexford.” The crowd joined in with a subdued respectful delivery that spread from the centre outwards as the crowd realised what was being sung. We were pleased that at least we could do something to express our revulsion with what is occurring in Europe in our lifetime, to express our concern for the poor people caught up in a war not of their making. Two traditional musicians played several songs that were loudly applauded and a brief announcement was made that Amnesty would be collecting in Bullring in Wexford Town on Friday 11th and Saturday 12TH March. I for one will be there.
Lockdown has been an incredibly tough time for many but it has also been a period when people, confined to home, have discovered abilities and interests that they never knew they had. Below are some suggestions that you may wish to consider.
1 Write a book, a poem, a short story. Everyone has a story within them and the only question is have you the patience to sit and write it down? With technology, the way it is you may not even have to sit down and write. You simply dictate to your laptop and it does all the writing. This link to Microsoft explains more.
2 Change yourself by changing your weight, your mindset, your look. What lockdown has delivered to people, by the bucket load, is time. Use that time to reassess where you are in life and where you want to go. Be creative, for example now that you have long hair consider platting it, colouring it, cutting it yourself. I bet you never knew you could cut hair but if in doubt practice on him and the dog first.
3 Think outside the box and dream up, invent new materials and services. I was sitting recently looking at sheet music and being unable to remember what fingers needed to be used to play the “G” chord. Then eureka! I pulled out an old pack of playing cards and stuck blank labels on them. With a pen, I drew the chord diagram (with dots for fingers) for every chord I couldn’t remember. I’ve now got over fifty cards and they are invaluable when learning to play music. Look around your room and think what could you invent?
4 Start a blog on a topic that interests you and add a podcast and do it all for free. If you have always wanted to blog about something, anything why not create a website and do so? The worlds largest supplier of websites is WordPress.com and if you follow this link you can set up a free website or blog in a few easy steps. My own site is a good example in that it’s free, I have no domain name to pay for and in the last two months, WordPress has teamed with Anchor.fm to enable podcasts to be created and then linked to my posts. Click here to see my site.
If you do proceed to set up a new website or you already have a website live on the internet do not forget that appearance is important, especially the appearance of your landing page. Most visitors to websites linger only moments on that page and only visit that page so make sure your landing page avails of the best fonts available. Click here to visit a free fonts websitethat should ensure you make the best impressions possible.
5 Redesign your home and then redecorate it. Surely there has been no better time to redecorate your home than the present time? With DIY stores open and viewed as essential services you can buy the paint & related materials and get cracking. Should you plan something more substantial why not redesign your home with online software such as Roomsketcher.com? Here is a link to another blog that walks you through some of the best software packages on the market
7 Creatively look at your relationship with your partner and bring romance back into the relationship. Now is the perfect time to reassess your relationship and how you display love to one another. Romance should not walk out the door when marriage arrives, but it often does. Anyone in a relationship for any period of time needs to guard against complacency, against taking the other for granted so use this time together to relight the flame of passion. Go for walks together, take up hobbies together, do the ironing together. Suprise them with an alfresco meal that you secretly cooked. Share a bottle of wine in a candlelit room, Sit out at night wrapped warm together under blankets with the universe above.
8 Take an interest in your garden, patio, balcony, open area and start growing plants or fruit and vegetables. In Europe, April is a month of planting and growing plants on from seed. Grow your own strawberries for example. Many supermarkets and DIY stores will have baby plants you can buy and strawberries can grow in buckets, pots, trays or just in the ground. Tune into Gardeners World on Friday nights at 9:00 pm on BBC 2 or just ask questions in the DIY store or ask neighbours who will be more than willing to guide you.
9 Learn to play an instrument, a guitar or Ukulele and then write your own songs. I learnt to play a song on the ukulele with two chords on my first night and I have never mastered a musical instrument before. If you are interested in picking up the ukulele then you will find that there is probably a ukulele club in your town or village where you can attend classes when lockdown is over. The ukulele is easier to learn than the guitar as there are only four strings as against six or twelve with the guitar. Songs are usually played with four chords and there is a huge amount of beginners information available for free online. Songs are also not limited to those such as “When I’m cleaning windows” but feature modern and old alike. Here is a link to just one of the free sites online.
10 Discover Zoom and create your business online. If you have a desire to run a business online why not try and do so now, while locked down? It doesn’t have to be a business you are currently running. With Zoom, you hold 45-minute classes or meeting for free so if you think you have the knowledge to impart go for it. Here is a link to sign up for free to Zoom.
I hope this informs and helps and I’m happy to attempt to answer any questions you care to ask.
Life the world and everything 