By Indira Mahun

Spring is in the air and with it comes hope and new beginnings. As I sit in a classroom at work, I am delighted to see actual daffodils having survived the bitter wintery weather to bravely poke their bright yellow heads through the traces of snow. However insignificant this might appear to some, to me it was a symbol of positivity and good things to come. The joy and happiness in seeing new blooms appearing in early Spring is overwhelming at times. Am I the only one who has the urge to stop my car by the roadside or at a roundabout to admire the magnificent array of colours of the cornflowers and Californian poppies? For this, I wait in anticipation.

Let’s face it – we’ve had an unforgettable 2020, mostly for the wrong reasons. We so want to look forward to a brand new year – 2021 – in the hope that we might be able to leave behind the sadness and chaos prompted by the pandemic. We have missed out on so much but, as a nation, we have remained steadfast and strong. The distance created between families and other loved ones, though they may only live in a house just down the street, has miraculously strengthened the bond between them. For me, the indescribable longing to see my grand-daughter again and hold her in the tightest hug imaginable has cemented our special relationship. Face-timing is a godsend but virtual smiles and kisses cannot replace real ones. 

Whilst 2020 was overshadowed by lockdowns, job losses, social distancing, and cancellations of weddings and other plans, there have been so many good things to come out of 2020 too and we must not forget them. They remind us that where there is bad, there is also good; everything must be connected and in balance as, the law of physics states, opposites attract each other. How can we forget Captain Sir Thomas Moore who raised a staggering £33 million after walking 100 laps of his garden just before his 100th birthday? As all forms of transport came to a standstill, our extraordinary planet experienced a drop in pollution and we saw clearer, bluer skies. The nation came together to honour our amazing NHS by displaying colourful rainbows and clapping on doorsteps whilst businesses and manufacturers played their part by producing PPE, visors and other vital equipment. These are just a few examples and I am sure there are many more.

Regardless, we still have longings and I have lost count of the number of times I have heard people say, ‘I can’t wait till this is all over and we can get back to normality again’ at which point I found myself questioning what normality really is. Each one of us will have our own interpretation of a normal existence but the one thing we all surely have in common is how appreciative this pandemic has made us. There are some aspects of this new reality which have been hard to assimilate into our daily lives and which we will be glad to see the back of. Personally, for me it is the wearing of masks. To this day, I still stand and stare in disbelief at all the masked faces when I am in supermarket or anywhere similar. This is a reality which I would never have expected in a million years to be true. 

No doubt it will be a long time before we can be anywhere near where we were at the start of 2020 but we can look forward to positive changes. The incredible rate of the rollout of the vaccine has provided a chink of light at the end of this dark tunnel. It suggests hope and gives people the so-needed optimism that this year will be a better one. This hope lives in all of us and is achievable through common sense and consideration for everyone around us. It would be so lovely to know that we have all become so much more appreciative of what we have missed. I know that I will never again take for granted the elation that comes from being close to others, having family and other social gatherings, going to the theatre or a concert and, the sorely missed, holiday destinations. 

Consequently, we wonder what the new roadmap will look like in terms of easing lockdown restrictions. Matt Hancock has been quoted as saying on ITV News that; 

“The work we’ll be doing this week is to make the judgements about what we can do to exit lockdown safely, yet quickly.

“That is the difficult balance, we want a sustainable exit, so we don’t have to go back into lockdown.” 

He also said that he wants to ensure that measures are eased “carefully and cautiously”.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that we certainly do not want to go into another lockdown. With some degree of common sense and consideration for the health and safety of others, we can avoid this. Easing lockdown should not provide an excuse to throw caution to the winds and go crazy. What it should do is give us the opportunity to see our loved ones again and get kids safely back into education. We will wait and see; just don’t Jab and Go anywhere in a hurry!