Life During Corona

A generation defining moment

By Thomas Feng

June 28^th, 2020

I live in a shoebox where the sun peeks in twice a day. First in the morning when the streets are quiet before the residents of Brunswick and Carlton wake up and have their coffee. And again at dusk as the light bounces off the building opposite for a brief golden shine into the balcony and bedroom.

Life during Corona has been about growing accustomed to my own cycles and habits at home. With one small space serving for both work and relaxation, it has been easy to fall into days of ruts where clearing a table, or doing the dishes feels like an insurmountable mountain to climb. I miss my desk and my ergonomic chair and my two screens which are all at the right height for me to work comfortably. That's a sentence I never thought I would ever write.

But I have slowly found quiet and calm being at home. I don't miss running from one commitment to the next. And it has been dandy spending quality time with Michelle.

A sneaky birthday

It was the first weeks into restrictions whent we snuck out to Nathan and Meg's place, mainly to surprise Meggles for her birthday, and also see them for the last time for what would be months. Nathan had come out of hospital a couple of weeks back and was finally healthy. He spent the afternoon artistically scribbling and decorating the drive-way as his canvas with a birthday mural.

We ate vegan and gluten-free cupcakes, and gave each other brutally honest yet gentle encouragement about work, mental health and life. It was to be our last social gathering for over two months.

Dreaming energy

Bunkering down at home, I exerted all of my energy into reading and writing. I finally gathered and processed my thoughts and reflections to write about Michelle and I's tumultuous trip to China; I read more books in two months than I had in the entirety of 2019.

I created a spreadsheet of potential creative projects brewing in my mind on a restless autumn night. And I wrote an article for The Pin on racial justice and intercommunity racism.

Corona has been a boon for new ideas and unlearning old perspectives; and this is not just within my own life. I look at the pink, dusty clouds up in the sky and I think of the re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement and other fundamental injustices in which people are demanding change.

We can't waste this chance and go back to the way things were before.

Physical Distancing

My friend Imogen has been staying at her partner's place nearby in a tucked away street. On the corner sits a quintessentially northside, DIY, rugged wooden bench made out of a manipulated wood pallet that is supported by a base of milk crates. I park my bike and stand on the footpath as she climbs out the window to chat and catch up.

Loving hugs to say hello have been replaced mostly by head nods and the occasional bow. I don't think I'll ever do an elbow bump with a straight face, or without the awkward half-curtsey to show your enthusiasm. We exchange frustrations around study and work, and adjusting to these unusual times.

We yonder an entire Saturday afternoon around the Brunswick East neighbourhood, stumbling across the most colourful, blooming street of them all, Roberts Street. The locals seemingly wave at us as we gaze at the various Californian bungalows, and pristine gardens which have made their way onto the nature strip.

Imogen picks a small bouquet of flowers for Michelle, before we scurry into 7-Eleven for a plant-based meat pie, a little vegan treat for a long, taxing walk.

Appreciation

I'll look back fondly at this crazy pandemic as the moment we were forced to learn how to live with ourselves.

Quarantine has been the ultimate test of whether Michelle and I can keep ourselves entertained and sane for months on end, without the distractions of social commitments and hobbies. I think we've passed with gold stars and flying colours on this front.

Most days she'll show me the latest Chinese drama or variety shows that she's been addicted to or we'll watch endless amounts of YouTube content, before inevitably scrolling into the endless whirpool of TikTok or Twitter.

We haven't been strict on cooking (far from it), but we have been exercising and working out more than we ever did last year when we first moved in together. Nathan sent me an Aeropress in the early days of quarantine which has sent me down the coffee-making and tasting rabbit hole.

Every few days, I have dragged Michelle out to go for a walk and remind her that a world exists outside of the shoebox we live in. The streets have been lively as everybody (bar Michelle) looks for an escape from cabin fever.

I miss seeing our friends and having the bigger sense of belonging to a community. In many ways this experience of social isolation has given me a stronger appreciation and empathy of how Michelle and other migrants feel sometimes.

COVID-19 has brought out the best and worst of us. We have seen peaks of acts of kindness countered by troughs of racism and violence towards people of colour, particularly African people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Personally, it has galvanised me to be a stronger, anti-racist ally, and go beyond posting on social media and directly support and contribute to these communities. It has inspired me to create and write and express, and have important conversations about what brings us together, not divides us apart.

I know that in years to come, I'll look back fondly at this crazy pandemic as the moment where we were forced to learn how to live with ourselves, however challenging, stressful, tiring, relieving and hopeful that may be.