Does your Occupational Profile look anything like the graph below? If so, you have my sympathy. Cabin Fever is not as far as we know contagious; indeed, it seems to be passed on genetically. It usually implies a dynamic, action-oriented individual who hates being cooped up in one location for any length of time. Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus and the need to contain the epidemic, we are being instructed to stay at home. Absolute purgatory, if this is in your profile.
Find yourself a Ralph!
Do dogs enjoy REM sleep I wonder? Exhausted by his futile attempts at catching squirrels, Ralph of course goes to sleep. I have noticed how his eyes flicker and his little legs twitch, as though he is replaying the earlier action. Personally, chasing squirrels doesn’t do it for me. However, chasing a cricket ball or surfing on a Cornish beach is a different matter. Whist Ralph is doing his visualisations (of his fury friends) I’m 300 miles away in my dreams. Polzeath is arguably the best surfing beach in the whole world and I don’t have to flog down the M6/M5. I can go there at any time now and listen to the waves breaking, courtesy of YOUTUBE. (The seagulls scavenging the nearby bins adds a touch of authenticity.)
Outdoor types, like me!
Us outdoor types know that it is an ill-wind that does nobody any good! A few months back, I had to have a nose job. Not for cosmetic reasons I might add, but to sort out a broken nose sustained in the school playground many moons ago. As a result of that operation, I have had to learn to breathe all over again. What I didn’t realise is meditation starts with simple breathing exercises and it is a brilliant antidote to Cabin Fever.
With the enforced lockdown and my new found patience (courtesy of meditation) I have started to engage my creative abilities. Not only am I producing copy for interesting (or maybe not so interesting articles) new workshop material is being generated. If you are like me, you’ll become oblivious to time when you are absorbed in actually making something. (Although, it can have the reverse effect when what you produce falls apart or the piece of paper remains stubbornly blank.)
If all else fails, go out and cut the grass or weed the flower bed!
They say you don’t appreciate something, till you lose it This is certainly true of our freedom. Fortunately, most of us have never really known incarceration, other than short spells through injury or illness. I can remember my own parents telling me how lucky we are compared to their generation. My ex Father in Law was a Japanese prisoner of war for more than four years, so a few more weeks of lockdown is nothing in comparison.
