7 things that living through a global pandemic has taught me

This time last year, almost to the day, I was sat in a coffee shop with two of my friends, discussing the rumours we’d heard about London potentially being put into a lockdown. We sipped our over-priced flat whites and joked about how nice it would be to have a few weeks off work (joke was well and truly on us, eh?), without considering for a moment how drastically our lives were about to change.

Since that day, we’ve walked, we’ve baked, we’ve zoomed, we’ve clapped, we’ve quizzed, we’ve pretty much completed the whole of Netflix and now, all we can do is wait.

So, whilst we wait for the supposed light at the end of the tunnel that is June 21st, I thought I’d put together a little list of things that I’ve learned this past year, because as we slowly start returning back to our normal lives, I think I could definitely do with remembering some of these.

• Life is short and things can change FAST – eat the cake, tell the people you love how much you love them and look up from your damn phone.

• Loungewear is for life, not just for lockdown and being comfy is now my top priority at all times.

• Slowing down is not a bad thing, your worth is not calculated by the number of things you get ticked off your to-do list and sometimes, even the most organised people just have to wing it.

• We may all be in the same storm but we’re not all in the same boat. For some people, this pandemic has been an inconvenience but for others, it has been a crisis.

• We are all way more adaptable and resilient than we think we are. Whether you’ve had to adapt to working from home, adapt to spending every waking moment with your partner, or adapt to plucking your own eyebrows and having roots half-way down your head – you’ve done a great job.

• If the worst thing that’s happened to me this year is going up a dress size or two, then I’m pretty darn lucky.

• It really is the little things in life that mean the most and never again will I take for granted a coffee with a friend, a trip to the theatre, a browse round a shop or a trip to see my family.

Of course, I’ve learnt a lot of other important lessons this year, but these were the ones that really stuck out to me. The pandemic may have stolen a lot of time from us, but rather than dwelling on what could have been, I plan on moving forward with a positive and hopeful mindset. I hope to use my time much more wisely and savour every moment of my life, no matter how small the moment may seem. I’m going to try and stop obsessing over the things that ultimately don’t matter, and instead, try and focus my energy on being kinder, being braver, being more ambitious and being HAPPIER.

Katie x