44 Scene
NETTY’S WORLD
HOMELY HOMILY
Hello from the other side
Right here, right now
) When I wrote my last column I was safely in isolation, much as I have been since March. In October I attended just one social event...and came away with Covid-19. Honestly, I’d have preferred a goody bag.
) I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions, putting unnecessary pressure on myself only to be solely disappointed when I break the promise of whatever I said I would or would not do.
BY NETTY WENDT
My last column compared the plague of Covid-19 with the spread of AIDS in the 1980s, and the similarities continue. We humans don’t like to admit we have fallen prey to contagion, this ignorance and secrecy only serves to help the virus spread. No wonder disease flies through a town faster than a toupee in a hurricane. For months I’d lived in a fool’s paradise, where the only actual Covid positive person I knew was the cousin of my aunt’s friend. The minute my partner declared my sorry status on Facebook, a torrent of private messages told me I was not alone. I heartily wish to relinquish my membership of this private club. I don’t know what long-term damage this thing has left me with, but at least I’m not dead.
“Well, this miserable old lesbian sitting tapping her keyboard would like to ask you ‘people of the future’, did Christmas work out well, or did we see grandma for Christmas Day only to bury her at New Year?” Christmas and New Year always make me a tad tearful, this year, however, I’m also fearful. I miss those I have lost more keenly. The dying year seems to be a metaphor, we’re all dying all the time... some of us really quickly. A new year signifies new life. However, due to the birth of baby Jesus being plonked in to replace pagan winter celebrations, New Year occurs at the cruelest, most inappropriate time, meteorologically anyway. Maybe that’s why the magic feelings of rebirth elude me so. New Year should be springtime, January is a time to feast, reflect and hunker down. And so we look to 2021, the future. You will have gathered that, unlike news pieces, the ‘opinion’ columns in this wonderful magazine are something of a time capsule, written roughly a month before publication. To put it in perspective, that annoying man on the Asda advert is still in a Santa hat; Donald Trump has admitted defeat in the US election although he should have won “by really a lot”; Joe Biden has broken his foot playing with his dog, but the mere fact he has a dog and therefore a soul is enough to give me hope. Well, this miserable old lesbian sitting tapping her keyboard would like to ask you ‘people of the future’, did Christmas work out well, or did we see grandma for Christmas Day only to bury her at New Year? How’s that vaccination programme going? Is Brexit making supermarket shelves look like Poland under martial law? Oh tell me Brighton’s in tier one! Tell me pubs and theatres are filling up like a gay man’s eyes watching Beaches... Tell me Tiny Tim didn’t die. Whatever the future holds, let’s hope it’s kinder. Tell me that at least.
BY GLENN STEVENS
For a long time I’ve taken my cue from how I feel on any given day and embrace the challenge. This really came into the fore for many of us last year as the unpredictability of our lives were thrown up in the air due to Covid-19.
“I found that doing something so simple really had a big impact not only on my mental health but on my fitness as well” Thinking back to last year, a few unexpected life changes did come up which I continue to embrace this year. During the first lockdown, when it was all a bit of a novelty to only have one hour outside to have exercise, I really took to going for a walk. I’m lucky that I have a woodland on the doorstep of my flat so took full advantage of that and rediscovered just how much I enjoyed taking a walk for no other reason than that it was nice to do so. Once lockdown was lifted, my work encouraged us to walk to work if we could and avoid public transport. Again I found that doing something so simple really had a big impact not only on my mental health but on my fitness as well. With my headphones on listening to my tunes, I really got into my journey into work and really began to understand the phrase, ‘stop and smell the roses’. To be honest, I didn’t smell any roses, as for some reason roses smell really vile to my nose, but I was really able to appreciate many things that I would have missed sitting on the bus. Be it the change in the seasons as things warmed up, to the different types of dogs or cats who I would lock eye contact with along the way. Walking also took me on different routes to work, allowing me to really appreciate just how quirky Brighton can be. Giving myself more time to get to work meant getting up earlier and during the summer months that was no problem, plus giving myself extra time just to be with myself inside my own head gave me some brilliant moments to mull things over, think about ideas or sometimes just think of nothing; all of which really had a positive change to my thinking and health. Now, I would like to say that as autumn gave way to winter I just wrapped up and marched on in much the same way. Well I did on the way to work, but after a long shift and a dark night what I really wanted to do was get home and lose myself in some outrageous plot in Hollyoaks – seriously how many serial lovers/killers/fraudsters can one soap contain? As it turns out, quite a few! So until spring arrives I’ll keep up my morning walks, plan things for the day ahead and make a note of all the good things I have right here, right now.
