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In the time of coronavirus

A collection of stories submitted by the public on their experience of living through the time of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives. Globally the scale of human suffering as a consequence of Covid-19 has been very great. Everywhere people are now reflecting on what this major and previously unimaginable global crisis means for us, as individuals, living in the 21st century. This forum offers a space for writers to reflect on their experience in Aotearoa and to consider questions such as: What might we need to remember and preserve? What has been my experience, my observations, how might my priorities have shifted, in a good way, as a result of the lockdowns? If you would like to contribute to the re-collective effort through any of the following life writing formats — journalling, nature writing, memoir, commentary, poetry, notes on work in progress during lockdown… — please make initial contact through my contact page. Next prepare a page of A4 writing, starting in the present moment and moving where you need to into the recent past and forwards from that point, with a title, brief bio, photo (optional) and your contribution will be added to the repository of important writings flowering in this space.

"We are here; we are human beings; this is how we lived. Let it be known, the earth passed before us. Our details are important."
Natalie Goldberg, Writing down the Bones (1986)

All Zommed Out! by Helene Connor

29/11/2021

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Helene Connor is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland. Helene is of Māori, English and Irish descent.  She has whakapapa (genealogy) links to Te Atiawa and Ngati Ruanui iwi (tribes) and Ngati Rahiri and Ngati Te Whiti hapu (sub-tribes). Helene’s research is located within an interdisciplinary platform which includes gender studies, ethnicity, cultural representation and narrative and biographical research.   Website: https://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/people/dcon006
 
On 17 August 2021 the first case of the COVID-19 Delta variant was detected in an Auckland man and all of Aotearoa New Zealand was plunged into a three day level 4 lockdown.  Auckland has remained in Lockdown ever since and at Day 104 (or there abouts) after months of zooming,  I’m all zoomed out!
Zoom is an enabler.  It’s enabled work from home in a zoom bubble.  A zoom bubble that has provided a safe space to continue to work; protected and isolated.  Zoom has filtered much of the outside world out of range, just as the face masks we now wear to the supermarket filter out those nasty Delta droplets and particles.

Yet, while zoom has enabled work to continue and to “stay calm and carry on”, it’s  taken a toll on my  mental and physical health.  I’m in the throes of zoom fatigue and zoom burnout. My work calendar has all my scheduled zui (zoom meetings). webinars and zoom catch-ups.    It has the zoom teaching times and the zoom supervision times.  It even has the zoom social times where friends get to meet up in zoom land and have some zoom fun trying out  zoom  filters  and experimenting with virtual backgrounds  wearing zoom bunny ears, silly hats and zoom created virtual masks.

Zoom is both a blessing and a curse.  With all its benefits, it has a range  of adverse consequences.  Most of my colleagues are reporting diminished eye sight from the long hours of screen time. Hours of sitting in front of a monitor have resulted in  neck and back pain and RSI is quite common.  But perhaps the most insidious consequence of all is anxiety, the fear of leaving the comfort of the zoom bubble.  The fear of going out and mingling with the masses who may or may not be double vaccinated.   The obsessive compulsive need to sanitise hands every time you touch an object outside of your zoom bubble.  The tense moment, a stranger sniffles or coughs.   The constant signing in with the NZ Covid Tracer every time you pop down to the dairy or the local cafe’  and then worrying about getting the dreaded notification – “you have been in contact with someone who has covid-19”! 
 
For now though, we have another layer of protection, the ‘My Vaccine Pass’.  And soon, we are moving into the Traffic Light System and after a time, those of us who have been living in our zoom bubbles will begin to emerge into the stream of life again.   We will be zoom-free.  We can  recharge those internal  zoom batteries and simply ‘be’!    

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Copyright © 2017 Deborah Shepard
  • Home
  • Books
    • The Writing Life >
      • Reviews & Interviews
    • Giving Yourself to Life
    • Her Life's Work
    • Translucence
    • Between The Lives
    • Reframing Women
    • Tributes
    • Personal Writings >
      • Lockdown Journal
      • Travel Journal
      • Elegy for a friend
      • Christchurch - Post Quakes
      • On a residency
      • Deborah’s Love Letter to the Women’s Bookshop
      • Deborah's Q & A With Unity Books
  • Writing Memoir
    • Defining Memoir
    • The Participatory Model
    • Tips on Writing and Posting a Story
    • The Value of a Writing Class
    • From writing course to book publication
    • Your Writing Space
    • Writing on a Theme >
      • Window
      • Surviving a Crisis
    • Reviews of Memoir
  • Writers' stories
    • Covid-19 Stories
    • Writing Guidelines
  • Events
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Media
  • What People Say
  • Contact