Tales of Social Distancing (Coronavirus Update)

I've been trying to write something about the current coronavirus situation all week, but I didn't know where to start. Life seems so oddly surreal at the moment. I've been trying to keep up some sense of normality and continue to blog and make YouTube content, but it feels weird to be doing such things in the light of what's going on. It feels like we're living in some science fiction movie.

The last week has felt like a month. Slowly things have started to close down here in Ireland. St. Patricks Day parades were cancelled all across the country (they're usually held in pretty much every town here), which is a huge thing. Some shops are still open, but most bars and restaurants are closed. Cinemas and museums are closed. Stores are working on reduced hours, and many more are closing every day.

It's a scary time for everyone, here and across the world. It's challenging both for economic reasons and of course, the obvious fear of getting the virus. With people being told to go home, and many workers temporarily laid off, it's hard for many people right across the world. As a creative, our industry has been struck too. Many people in this sector work as a freelance, and most gigs are being cancelled or postponed, leaving many without work or income.

Even on this site, I've noticed a drop off in viewership and engagement. My online sales have totally died up. All of which is totally understandable. Who wants to read about photo processing and software when the world feels like it's falling apart around us? Selling eBooks and Lightroom presets right now seems wrong. It even seems trivial to care about such things, but people still need to eat and pay rent. A lot of freelancers I know are already beginning to worry about the next few weeks.

I really don't know what to do either. Should I keep trying to write tutorials and articles as usual, or do I give it a break for a while? On the one hand, it seems almost callous to be carrying on as usual, but on the other hand, it's all I have. And as someone else pointed out, having some degree of normality can be a distraction from the stress of it all. But I just don't know. It doesn't feel right.

I want to try and be a voice of calm reassurance, but to be honest, I'm frightened myself. I haven't slept properly all week, and I don't expect that to improve any time soon. As someone with an underlying respiratory condition, I am at an elevated risk of having serious complications from catching the virus, so I'm doing everything I can. My hands have never been so clean.

There's this surreal sense of calm outside. There isn't a full lockdown here yet, so you can still go outside, go to get groceries and so on, so long as you practice social distancing. The other morning I went for a walk to get some air and it was sunny but cold. It was almost pleasant, but eerily quiet. There was virtually no traffic on what is usually a busy road outside my house. Even other people were few and far between, and I noticed that it was almost creepy how loud the sound of the birds was. I realised at this point I've watched way too many post-apocalyptic disaster movies.

If you think about it for too long, you start to feel a bit powerless to do anything. One of the things I saw shared on social media (that wasn't dangerous misinformation) was that folding at home was running simulations for several scientific institutions to help work on understanding the virus better in the search for treatment options, so I signed up straight away. I thought it would be a good use of my computer while it's otherwise idle. At least I feel like I can contribute something, and feel a tiny little less helpless.

It's a trying time for everyone, but there is also some degree of solidarity across the world right now, perhaps more so than in recent times. Societies are united in their isolation. And life goes on. New iPads get announced, rockets still go to space, and people still look forward to new movies and tv shows (even if they have to wait a little longer). These things might seem unimportant, but amid the chaos, some element of regular life is still important.

And so all I can do is try and keep sharing and writing and creating and hope my mundane efforts in some way contribute to giving you a tiny bit of normality. I don't know what else I can do. I always feel a sense of pride in the community of readers here, and I hope all of you and your loved ones are keeping well as best you can right now.

Right, off to wash my hands again.