My personal quarantine experience
“Why I sometimes miss the lockdown…"

Regularly I get photo reminders on my iPhone. These last weeks I see every day memories of our early-pandemic life in lockdown. Indeed, the three-year ‘anniversary’ of the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown has passed. And I must admit, these pictures invite me to take a trip down memory lane and give me a sense of nostalgia…

Before explaining myself further, let me start off by saying that by no means I want another lockdown nor a deadly virus wave. We have seen a lot of suffering: families devastated by illness and loss, (small) businesses trying to keep their head above water, loved ones separated from each other,… Terrible times that hit many families hard to whom my heart goes out.

So my intention is not at all to romanticize the pandemic. I just want to point out that reminiscing about the good doesn’t equal forgetting the bad nor the ugliness of death.

The quarantine life was a strange, sun-drenched time when the world seemed united in coping with an uncertain future. The world stopped turning but there was beauty in the way the world slowed down.

SILENCE: An unprecedented quietness and strange peace descended upon our empty streets. A deafening silence, that is what I remember the most of the lockdown. No hums of cars, no airplanes flying over, no nothing. Only bird songs and every now and then the chatter of neighbours sitting in their garden. Hearing only the birds was a highlight of the lockdown. And the fact that all extra noise was erased created headspace for me. 

SIMPLICITY: Staying home became the default. Daily life became simple. You had no choice but to be where you were. I didn’t have any social obligations and I appreciated the little things that made that day just a little bit different than the previous one. We went for (socially distanced) walks in the silent streets hunting for teddy bears and I looked forward to preparing the next Foodbag meal.

CREATIVITY: The lockdown nurtured the imaginative mind. I was so impressed and touched by the creative actions in my city to spice up life where possible. Someone who took window pictures (like the photo of this blog post), someone who turned our house into Pippi Longstocking’s Villa Villekulla, someone who made a lockdown drawing of our family, the lockdown newspapers we made and sent to our families,… And I think it had been a long time since I crafted so many things, this time to constantly entertain my then 3-year old daughter Lilly. We have painted, planted flowers, brightened up the sidewalk with graffiti to put a smile on the face of the lonely pedestrians,… My inner creative spark was lightened up again!

CONNECTION: In these early times of isolation and unpredictability I sensed a warm feeling of togetherness, a heartwarming sense of unity: We are in this together. There was respect and solidarity. We clapped for the brave healthcare workers and all the people who kept on working to ensure that our world, despite the lockdown, kept on spinning. I will always remember when all the radio stations in Europe played at the same time ‘You’ll never walk alone’. We turned up the volume and opened our windows and door. But what no one can ever take away from me is the precious quality time I had with Lilly and my partner Tim. Our bond got even stronger…

This is me, holding on to the positive memories of early-pandemic lockdown (before the pandemic fatigue hit so many people) and being grateful for these small bundles of joy amid all the grief and pain in the world. May we not forget those negative memories either…

I now want to try to keep these things alive in my post-pandemic life as well. Create some headspace, enjoy the little things, stay creative and cherish my daughter. 

I even want to prolong this into my content and stories. Erasing all unnecessary noise and adding value and not taking up space. Creating focused content that is meaningful for you in all its simplicity. Searching for creative ways to share engaging reads via renewing points of view and formats. And especially connecting with you to have engaging dialogues… 

How about you? How do you look back at the early-pandemic life? I hope my reflections inspired you to rethink your own life, personally and professionally. (Or maybe even rethink your marketing approach…)

Let’s stay connected in all simplicity...

I would love to discover all different facets of you and myself and together be like Pippi Longstocking: I've never tried that before so I think I should definitely be able to do that. That quote was written down on our front door during Corona times. We don't need to lift horses like Pippi, but be remarkable in our own way. Would you like to know how?

I can show you how you fascinate people with my Your Personal Brand kickstart with Fascinate® program (Available in Nederlands and English!). Book a discovery call to connect and see how I can help you to be remarkable like Pippi Longstocking, just by being you in all simplicity and by being creative without making unnecessary noise...