I don’t know about you, but I’m getting more and more concerned about the likely impact Brexit will have on us here in the UK. Even if a deal is agreed, it will be such a ‘hard’ Brexit that it will only very slightly soften the blows that ‘no deal’ with bring us. I find it impossible to understand such self-harm as a nation, especially coming as it does on top of the devastating and continuing impact of the pandemic.
What to do?
Well, there seems to be very little we can do as individuals. Those of us who can have gathered a small amount of supplies to reduce our demand at a time when all sorts of things are likely to be in short supply. Those who can’t will undoubtedly suffer most, and will need our support to help get them through.
So today I’ve done what I used to do in university days when I was having an ‘essay crisis’: I’ve shifted around most of the furniture in my room.
I have particular memories of deciding at midnight that the essay – barely started – that had to be handed in by 9am the next morning simply couldn’t be written until I’d rearranged all the furniture. Which I proceeded to do, until at 2am I saw sense and abandoned the furniture shifting to continue writing the essay – amidst chaos and mess. The essay was finished on time. The tidying took rather longer.
Yesterday I was sitting working on a knitting project that needs to be finished quickly when I suddenly realised that the sun was shining on a part of the room I didn’t use so much, whereas the two places I often sit were in deep shadow. I saw how it could be so much more pleasant if I just changed things around. Although I was itching to do it immediately, I managed to resist. This morning I was able to resist no longer (all the more so because the sun was shining so brightly), and I made the shift. I’m pleased with what I’ve done.

Sometimes focussing on the things that are easy to fix helps. A bit.