So yesterday I came out as a voluntary self-isolater, pre-empting the likely government restrictions for the over 70s and those with pre-existing conditions. It was not an easy decision. I was hesitant because I had several commitments this week and going forward. I am really not comfortable with letting people down, particularly when my absence puts additional work on others. Equally though, I was becoming very anxious about the prospect of mixing with others. After a sleepless night, anguishing over what I should do, I decided, for the sake of my mental and physical health, to self-isolate. I was prepared to do this on my own but the fisherman of my acquaintance, bless him, agreed to join me. This is particularly noble as he will find staying in very difficult. I am much more content sitting around at home. Left to his own devices, he would be rushing about doing everyone’s shopping and putting himself at risk. Mind you, I think our ideas of self-isolation do not exactly align. He’s of the ‘I’ll just pop to (insert your large supermarket of choice here) once a week’ mindset. I am more ‘I’ll just disinfect all those tins that have arrived in the online shop’.

Having begun to cancel my commitments, the sense of relief was overwhelming. I knew then that I had made the right decision. We are in this for the long haul. We know it won’t be easy but we think we can manage. So far we have twenty four hours under our belts. Yesterday we did pretty much what we would normally do on a Sunday afternoon. Today we did some gardening and the fisherman of my acquaintance power-washed the patio and the conservatory windows; we will be seeing a great deal of this area in the coming months. I would like to place on record that deciding to self-isolate is not a crafty way of getting all those ‘ten minute’ DIY jobs done!

So potential problems so far:- This is a great opportunity to tidy the garden but what will we do with the mowings and cuttings that we would normally take to be recycled? I could sign up for the paid council collection service but will this continue to run? Or we could build a compost heap that will end up being larger than my tiny garden. The jury’s out.

I have had nothing but support for my own decision. From many ‘me too’s, to kind remarks from those who I have had to let down. This is not universal however. I am hearing of more and more cases where people’s personal decisions are not being respected and they are being bullied into making social contact when they are not happy to do so. Nobody has the right to question the actions of someone else, unless their choices put other people at risk. I’d be the first to call out someone who says, ‘well I’ve been told to stay home but I think it’s an over-reaction so I’m going out anyway’. Yes, I have seen the equivalent and yes, I did comment. If people are withdrawing from events, it may be that they have a pre-existing condition, or someone in their household might be particularly vulnerable. Alternatively, they may just be s*** scared and are protecting their mental health. The reason is immaterial; it is their business and theirs alone. Let’s not make them feel guilty or, worse still, make them do things that could be harmful, or are against their better judgement.

Photograph by Jayne Poole