Today's Thoughts From Isolation

Dear The Future,

It is Monday 30 March  5.23am and my 7th letter and 2nd that I will post. I missed Saturday.

Symbols and traditions can be comforting in challenging times. They can be relied on in challenging times.

 

Often, the personal importance of something symbolic becomes more apparent only when it is no longer there.

 

Growing up in Melbourne, and still identifying as a proud Melbournian, the Myer retail brand was one such constant.

 

Their flagship store running from Bourke to Lonsdale Streets was the largest single in Australia and the Christmas windows were a treat looked forward to and a tradition passed down the generations.

 

Today represents the first Monday trading day of my life that the doors of Myer remain closed.

 

It doesn’t feel right. A part of my heritage seems under threat.

 

I am fully aware my feelings are selfish and out of context and know many thousands of Myer employees and tens of thousands other employees will not be paid this week, or next and for who knows how long.

 

And will Myer open again when this is all over. How many businesses will cease to exist, operate with less of a footprint or trade in a different, less person to person way?

 

It is relatively easy to predict and then calculate the financial cost of this Pandemic. It is only when in 25 or more years time we can look back and determine the social and behavioural changes and cost flowing from this period in time.

 

This past weekend has been our first without sport. Is it just me, or has this passed almost unnoticed? What will be the long term outcome if us Australians were to discover that sport is not the most important thing in the world? What if the weekend results of Collingwood, Manly, The Victory, The Reds or Camberwell don’t really matter after all?

 

Having said that, we are one week in to “encouraged isolation” and it all a bit of a novelty so far. My concern is in a week or two weeks time when the novelty wears off. I am however confident that our collective creativity will see us through. As it is often said, “only boring people get bored”.

 

As to this week’s reading and listening additions.

 

This week I will read a book I have had for many years without reading. It may also be inspired by my Melbourne reminiscing. It is The Birth of Melbourne by Tim Flannery.

 

To my Podcast feed I will add Business Wars – The North Face v Patagonia

 

And a quick comment on last weeks add ons.

 

The Fake Heiress Podcast tells the story of a Russian Lady who conned New York Society and is now in prison. It was easy listening but not spectacular.

 

I have not quite finished The Fifth Risk. I have read about 80% of it 3 or more times over. It looks in to the transition to Government of the Trump administration and the impacts on the various divisions of Government such as The Department of Agriculture. My re-reads of each chapter are motivated by notetaking with a view to writing an “observational” piece about the book.

 

And, a big thank you to everyone who commented or messaged through what they are reading and listening too. Always welcomed.

Finally, after a 6 month absence, I am again listening to Double J Radio, available via the internet, the app or digital radio..

 

Take care out there.

 

Colin

 

A Letter to a Coronavirus Free Future

It came to me a little before 4 am this morning.

I read an article yesterday about the Spanish Flue Pandemic of 1919 and in particular, how different societies responded and the subsequent results.

 

My Mother’s parents, my Grandparents are the only Grandparents I knew and they lived through the 1919 pandemic. I wondered what their thoughts and feelings were at the time and the insight this would provide now.

 

I decided to write a letter a day to the future. A letter to my Grandchildren, Great Grand Children, Grand Nieces and Nephews and their dependents, their friends and associates.

 

Further, I decided to hand write each letter in a new journal and after today, limit it to a single page.

 

I don’t intend to post each letter however I will share the first and may post each Monday’s letter.

 

Maybe you could also write a letter to your future?

 

Dear The Future,

 

It is Monday 23 March 2020  04.16 am

 

Shit is getting real. Coronavirus is real.

 

The Australian infection rate has increased 4-fold or more these last 10 days.

 

Social isolation has been practiced really well, and really poorly. We stay inside, limit our social interactions and we crowd Bondi Beach and some of the clubs and bars. From midday today, we will be denied these options.

 

Bars, clubs and restaurants will close except for take away and home delivered products.

 

Gyms and other indoor sporting venues, libraries and churches close also.

 

At midday, our way of life changes.

 

Bondi Beach has also been closed.

 

Selfishly, the impact on me is quite insignificant. Ok, so no post cycling group coffee and no coffee catch ups or meetings but this seems like a small inconvenience. As a largely introverted being, this is ok, but for the extroverted or lonesome who rely on such interaction and places to enjoy them, a challenge lies ahead.

 

At a personal level, I am not overly worried about being infected. I somewhat arrogantly or is it naively find comfort in being very fit and enjoying a healthy diet and overall lifestyle. To counter such arrogance, same may say stupidity, I am committed to being consciously diligent to avoid infection.

 

I do dread the thought of not being able to ride my bike or go for a run and have been imagining sneaking out to do so in the dark of night or the early morning. I imagine running at midnight, darting between the shadows cast by the street lights so as to not be seen. In my mind I am designing an adventure. 

 

Toilet paper has become a new currency and measure of wealth. Every new delivery is met by a rush that exceeds supply. Many want more and there is never enough it seems.

 

I have managed to refrain from such hoarding but admit to occasionally wondering what if there is no more, and I am left short? This of course would seem to be the mentality of those fighting, literally physically fighting, for rolls of toilet paper.

 

I must however be fully transparent. I did order twice my normal coffee bean quantity this past week, and did so only a few days after my previous order.

 

As I write, I am becoming increasingly fearful of the situation unfolding in the United States. Their infection numbers and associated fatalities are multiplying alarmingly. My fear however is driven more by wondering how many in the USA are going un detected. It was reported yesterday that in Australia, our infection testing rate is 400 people per 100,000 while in the USA it is 10 people per 100000.

 

By comparison, it appears Australia is “doing ok” but we will only know if “ok” is enough when we come through this and look in the rear view window,.

 

I will finish this first letter by also starting a weekly reveal of what I am reading and listening too.

 

This week, I will read (or re-read) “The Fifth Risk”  by Michael Lewis.

 

This week, I will add “Fake Heiress” to my Podcast feed.

 

With Love and Hope Always

 

Colin