Do you ever feel this will never be over?

I watch a tiny bit of depressing news in the morning and that's it. Our church has put all services online with songs, and on Utube you can view hundreds of different services from all over the world. The TV and Radio 4 have a lot as well. I've heard other faiths are doing the same. We've had a Taize service, a modern one, a traditional one, a Facebook page and small groups meeting via Zoom. It takes my mind off all the gloom. Thank you to everyone commenting on this site, as it helps to know we are not alone.

Daffydilly - if you have had a letter to say you should be shielding then you definitely should not be out there working in a community pharmacy! Please look after yourself.

Yes ‘be over by Christmas’ was the cry in 1939..... we need to adjust for long term and be pleasantly surprised if it is short term

They probably felt like it would never pass in all the previous pandemics in history. Plague, Smallpox, Spanish flu, but it all passed, scientists found cures and vaccinations and the world is still going round

Worried about this trend of the name 'boomers' and saying how lucky we all were. It gives me chilling visions of 'Logan's Run' 9where people over thirty were eradicated). Yes, we were lucky, but maybe we're looking through rose-tinted glasses. As a woman I didn't have the opportunities that most do, now. Mental illness was seen, often, as weakness or selfishness. Autism and ADHD were not recognised. Technology, whether you like it or not, was in its relative infancy (when you look at the upward curve since the 70s). Material possessions were probably a quarter of what they are, now (no bad thing). Our experiences are relative. I am, however, thoroughly ashamed that we allowed a government to bring in student loans - and that wasn't just 'boomers' that was younger voters, too. I have been called out for being 'old' and a 'boomer' and I'm still in my sixties. We have knowledge, we have experience and we can still work, most of us. Let us not vegetate but prove what we can add to the present and coming world experience. And eradicate the 'b' word.

I think we all have good days and bad at the moment, l am one of the lucky ones where mental health is concerned but I do have times where the panic seems to set in but thankfully it passes. I think we need to take encouragement from the fact that China now seems to be getting back on an even keel and I read yesterday that there were signs that in Italy things were improving there are even plans to start opening shops that were not just for essentials. So even though have a long way to go perhaps there is some hope at the end of the tunnel.

It's difficult. I think the world will be very different when we eventually emerge from this. I think it will take longer than expected, maybe with a few surges, before we can even consider normal.

I'm still working full time, in community pharmacy (super scary right now), so that part of my life is still the same. I'm kinda the responsible one in the family, looking after elderly relatives etc but I've just had a letter telling me I should be shielding, due to a health condition. I don't know what to do.

Thank god for my wits! ??

We will come through this as better people. We have been sent to our rooms to learn patience and what is really important in life. We will learn how to count our blessings. It is a beautiful world....maybe we will now learn to respect it. Have a wonderful day... sending Peace x

I think my thoughts have changed since my BIL has just been transfered off the Covid-19 ward and a dear friend has been ventilated in ITU. Until it happens to some one close to you it just doesn't feel real. BIL is 82 years and has survived, but friend in his 40's has had it worse and its touch and go. I know that it will end, but when and how many people I know will be sufferers is beginning to scare me. Having worked for over 40 years as a qualified nurse I worry so much about my dear friends that are still in the profession, I retired last year and will not be able to return due to health reasons. I feel the government has let the profession down so much and have put the staff in so much needless harm. Stay safe folks and God Bless you all. Xx

I hope it will be over sooner than later. My daughters collected me just before the lockdown as I am living alone but that leaves my bungalow unoccupied and unprotected. Furthermore, I an in the middle of moving to another property near my daughters, but it has all stopped now before exchange of contracts. I wonder whether I will ever move now as this process has had plenty of obstacles all along, and the Coronavirus has now given it the kiss of death.

Like China, restrictions will slowly open up again but it will
more likely be around August to September.
But life is now going to change for the world, Hygiene will
be enforced everywhere, social distancing will be in place
for a year or two. Complacency is a thing of the past, everyone will be looking at others to see if they wash their hands, If people handling food wear gloves etc. Yes the world is going to be a different place after this crisis.

Yes this will pass but I think it will be a long haul. In the meantime, there is a positive air pollution is down by a huge amount especially in Chinaand this has to be good.
The downside is I have worries, I had a MRI scan of my lungs before this all came about and the Dr said I had damaged lungs and needed more tests as it could well be that immune system has now decided to attack my lungs, but everything is on hold but he did tell me to get as much exercise as I could. So that is why everyday I do my cycle ride on the very quiet lanes and tracks around here and avoiding the popular places that people go to walk. I try not to think further than day or two and I must say I am enjoying the peace.

The sun is shining bright in Argyll and Bute and I am filled with dread. So many holiday makers have arrived and both our supermarkets have been stripped of everything according to the on line comments. We were very fortunate in hardly having any cases but I fear that is all going to change. The feeling is that 80% of us will get it at some point. Stay safe everyone, all we can do is protect ourselves as best we can.

Uh oh...it's wandering off into politics.

i think we all know " be positive" is a good aim. Not easy.

I agree so many people live in the past or rush headlong into the future. Be safe in the now. Tomorrow is a mystery yesterday is history there is no guarantee that there will b tomorrow. Another saying I find apt atm; man, while reaching for the stars, forgets the flowers at his feet.

Share your feelings...live in block of flats so no garden and communal gardens defined as public space so we can't use. Too many people on the streets so hard to walk ...so all difficult ...but I am blessed cos everyone I know and love is still well. Just taking one day at a time avoiding watching the awlful news except the press conference. I wish you all courage and health.

Franbern - it is up to everyone who identifies what you do to spread the word, to 'out' the people who have sacked workers (e.g. Tim Martin of Wetherspoons fame), to identify people who crow about making money from the crisis, to name and shame the Tory MPs who voted against frontline workers' pay rises in 2017 (including Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson - Rees Mogg goes without saying), to expose those in privileged positions who flouted government advice (e.g. Stanley Johnson travelling from London to his 500 acre second home near Exmoor). We have an excellent Opposition leader in Keir Starmer who will, I think, voice many of these things for us. But we have to back him. It was pointed out to me that he was wise not to join a Unity government because while he can still support this one in its few positive moves, he can hold it to account now and when this crisis - eventually - draws to something like a close. He is the only one to have challenged them on an exit strategy, for instance. There was a bit of blinking and you could almost hear them say 'A WHAT?'. It's time to start thinking imaginatively and positively. Courage mon brave!

I worry that life will never be the same again and that there will be a new normal. Us boomers were the lucky generation what sort of world will my baby grandchildren know?

I think we ll have to find our own ways of coping.
I wake up and lie in bed and try to envisage the things I will do today:
I will plant 2 more types of tomato seeds and 3 of peppers in jiffi plugs;
put runner beans and climbing french beans in soak for planting in fibre pots tomorrow;
make butternut squash and rice soup for lunch;
start my new applique picture.
My other half does the opposite:
Shall we discuss what we're not going to do today (he said):
We're not going to visit a National Trust house today;
we won't go to the coast or the peak district;
we wont take a picnic in the picnic basket;
we won't go for afternoon tea.

We all have to find our own way.

Do you think I could get a refund on my diary?

This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone. But it will pass.

We are loving lock down - my main concern is if one of becomes ill with something else, we may not get treatment

We have several young families who think this is a holiday and all go out for walks together. Yesterday one of the young mum gave me a death stare as I looked out of "my" sitting room window!!! I feel also that we will all get it at some point. Its so scary and I don't think it's ever going to end. Stay safe and sane. X

Interesting. My mother, sister and myself all felt quite low yesterday morning. I think the novelty has worn off and the death rate is still increasing and all of us are feeling afraid of the unknown.

Can relate to everything everyone's saying. There's just no point of certainty for us to anchor on. My partner and I are Grecophiles and wonder whether we'll ever get to the islands again - then I tell myself, 'Don't be ridiculous, of course we will'. But, of course, there's no OF COURSE about it. I do have the awareness of living through significant history and that life will never be quite as we knew it, again. But what will we learn from it? Scammers are scamming, Brexit is going ahead (and Brexiteers will blame economic damage on the pandemic, not their short-sightedness), and the impact of the virus is affecting the poor and vulnerable (especially refugees) far harder than the wealthy. This is a time for compassion, imagination and mutual support. But I think we all know the people who'll opt out.

Greymar Thanks for the thread, its good to have a place to express feelings and fears.
I had a ticking off for being negative, her word, because I said I wouldn't be sending Easter cards after hearing about the situation for postal workers.
I feel slighted but over sensitive at the same time. Typical of me.