Dystopian Society
How did we slip into this dystopian society so quickly? The global catastrophe that is Covid 19 has literally taken a hold on the world. The beginning of 2020 looked very different. Freedom reigned most of the worlds societies, or at least a perception of freedom. We could all eat together, drink together and swim together was this Utopia? Did we spend so much time writing and imagining a dystopian society that we created it? George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, H.G Wells et al did such a great job but this is not fiction.
Dystopian
‘A society characterised by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, or overcrowding. Relating to a system of government that is centralised and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.’
Ring any bells? It certainly does for me after homeschooling since March! (See my Confessions of A Homeschooling Mum by clicking here). We are all listening for the next lockdown news and rules to be imposed on us and quite rightly so if we are going to quell the spread of covid 19. However, even I am now eyeing the families that are shopping together, all four or five of them, breaking the rules. Am I disgusted or simply jealous that they still have control over their small children? This new oppressive regime creates distrust and a blame culture, from the supermarkets all the way to parliament and reverse.
Utopia
Were we so busy living in Utopia last year that we didn’t even realise it? Freedom to travel, freedom to touch, freedom to talk face to face. Life was a lot less lonely. Less than a year in for most of us to this new way of life and huge changes to our world wide society are obvious. One good thing in our ‘village’ is that nearly everyone is now saying hello or waving. We are desperate for some contact with the rest of the world. Is the disconnection creating connection? We all thought it was technology that was creating disconnection but where would we have been these past few months without Skype, FaceTime etc?
My brother a delivery driver in London FaceTimed me a few weeks ago on route to delivering at Harrods, the streets were empty. The middle of London was empty! For him this is a new Utopia of easy routes, less traffic and less pedestrians.
My Utopia is more conversations with my kids, I know they will not always need or want me around so this is precious time together. It has also made me happy that I did not become a teacher or a nurse and now hopefully the whole world realises that these caring occupations are for saints!
Catastrophe
Is there any one who has not had to change their daily routine because of the covid catastrophe? Perhaps Ashton Kutcher who seems to fly in and out of Byron Bay every other week, I guess for anyone with a private jet life hasn’t changed! They said that for those of us that already worked from home (and specifically writers) nothing has changed, I don’t think this is true. For me it’s meant that I can’t procure work by networking, holding workshops or simply by being ‘out there’ in public. I had finished touring with Sexpo in 2018 promoting my fiction and encouraging patrons to write. Oh how I crave the intimate connections made through creative conversations. Fifteen hour days of talking, counselling and standing on my feet, I’d be back there tomorrow if I could!
Now we are either stuck in our homes or our cars. If there is nothing more obvious in this pandemic it is the sheep mentality. It’s quite scary the amount of women I have seen in their car on their own with a mask on. I’d love to say I’ve witnessed the same proportion of men but I have not seen one, this could just be my feminist perception though. A little like my rose tinted glasses I don’t always realise this is only my view of the world.
Rose Tinted Glasses
I’m over the crazy catastrophic covid, the homeschooling, the fact that shopping is now not a treat but a labyrinth of policing and protection. Seeing my friends is not allowed and there are no holidays to look forward to. I’m also worried for my children and definitely don’t want the virus in my house, so I’ll be a sheep for a little longer. I’ll keep wearing my rose tinted glasses too after all it’s spring now in Melbourne and we are lucky to have so many beaches to spend our allocated exercise time!