Covid-19 – A Melbourne author’s perspective

I’ve held off writing about Covid in my blog posts because I feel we all need a break from it, as often as we can. But today’s the day I am compelled to share some thoughts.

In theory, my life hasn’t changed too much. I’m a writer, used to being closeted away, by myself, with my words. No matter how you look at it, those of us in dear old Melbourne town and the wide suburbs around it, have been living restricted lives for around six months. Yes, there are so many things to be grateful for – our families and friends, our daily walks, our pets and our gardens, while so many others are suffering so much.

But I’ve noticed recently, that we are all ‘fraying at the edges’ a little . . . or a lot. Those things that at first were a novelty – the cooking (and eating), the online exercise classes, playing Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit and The Game of Life, children speeding by on trikes and scooters, are all starting to lose their appeal and their shine.

I was discussing this subject with a dear friend and fellow author this morning, agreeing on ‘how lucky we are’ and ‘we are getting there’ and, ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’. But right now it’s really hard to hear about and see all the wonderful things going on in other states, particularly the things close to us creators, like school visits, creator gatherings, book launches and bookshop visits.

We could debate for ever – why things have been different in Victoria and in Melbourne particularly, however, the bottom line is really that most of us have not done anything differently than any of our counterparts in any other parts of Australia.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel now for Melbourne, which helps us all and with Spring here and Summer knocking on the door, things are beginning to look generally better and brighter.

England, France, Spain and India, on the other hand, are doing it tough right now, as are so many other places around the world. So yes, we are fortunate to live here in this beautiful country called Australia and in this wonderful city called Melbourne.

It will soon be time to enjoy familiar parts of our lives again, like eating out at our favourite restaurant or, further in the future, enjoying the ballet, the opera or a play – in the real, or going for a Sunday drive, further than 5 kilometres! It will be a time to support local businesses, the arts and restaurants and all the things we love most about our gracious city of Melbourne, as well as all the country towns and favourite places throughout the state of Victoria, they will need city visitors more than ever.