A Lockdown Diary With A Difference

2020 was my year. Everything was in place, hard work done, plans ready to go. Then Covid-19 turned up like a drunk uncle at a wedding and ruined everything. 

I live in Spain, the virus was quick to arrive here, as were the changes made by the government to try and contain it. A countrywide lockdown was introduced on March 16. 

The lockdown here is simple. We can leave the house to buy food, medicines or petrol, and that’s it. We have to stay in our houses, work from home if we can and not go out in public.

Working from home is second nature to me. I’ve honed my skills, ironed out the creases. I thought it wouldn’t be a million miles from my normal life. This is day eleven and it turns out, it’s more than a million miles from my normal life. 

I’ve realised I leave the house a lot. I nip here and there. I have a lot of human contact. I fit my work into two hour blocks throughout the day. Now it’s just me, my husband, our cat and what seems like endless days. There are no people anywhere and it’s silent. It’s like the start of an end-of-the-world movie, without the zombies. Maybe they come later.

I can’t sell any artwork as all the post offices are closed. And let’s be honest here, buying pretty things for your walls is about the last thing anyone is thinking about at the minute. 

I’m by nature a glass-half-full, silver lining kind of gal, but this is stretching all that positivity to its very maximum. So from the first day of the lockdown, to keep myself occupied, I’ve kept a visual diary of how I’m feeling.

Some days have been great. Some have been miserable and dark. It’s helping me to work through all the emotions and not bottle them up. Now that I have eleven examples, I can see that it’s already been a bit of a rollercoaster. I can't imagine what it will look like at the end of the lockdown, whenever that is.

For the diary, I’ve gone back to basics. I’ve stepped away from the computer as the temptation to check the news sites is too much. I have a set of block printing inks that I bought ages ago, and a tin of mini cookie cutters that I thought would be nice to print with. 

So this is how my diary works. 

Circles and ovals represent optimism. The bigger the circle or oval, the more optimistic I’m feeling. Brighter colours reflect my mood.

Triangles and squares are for the rubbish days, with colours to match.

This diary was supposed to be just for me, but I’ve decided to put it on Instagram to encourage others who are feeling overwhelmed and scared, to get their feelings out. 

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an artistic bone in your body, just grab a pen and the back of an envelope and scribble what you’re feeling. Put it down, step back and take a big deep breath. Now put on a cheesy tune and dance around your house in your pyjamas. You’ll feel much better, I promise.

Check out my Instagram page for the diary @jack_and_sun_design