The 7 phases in the corona shutdown
“Upside down, COVID you turn me, inside out, and round and round”
Corona shutdown
BY THE EDITOR // KARIN M. KLOSSEK
glorious me
Based on the song that everyone associates with Diana Ross, a logbook about the first two months of the Corona shutdown. Personally. Without claim to political correctness and exact chronology.
feverish activity
The first week
I deleted appointments that had been fixed for many months from the calendar. How long in advance to cancel? Rather week by week, although it is already clear …
Make the most of it. Use the time as productively as possible. Prepare. Remove. Learning – all topics that are too often on the to-do list below. Acquire new skills and as many of them as possible.
But first clear out the pantry. gain an overview. Are there enough anchovies, pasta, capers and parmesan? How is the tuna stock doing and would applesauce be good in times of crisis? Was it a premonition to order far more bottles of wine than usual in January?
Can’t the day have 36 hours? A full wine cellar is reassuring.
culture shock
The second week
Ironically, a week with two opera performances and a hair appointment. Months of anticipation. Now there are only three more lines left in the calendar. Was it really necessary to postpone the original premiere date?
Better to keep quiet about it. It sounds vain and elitist to regard opera as systemically relevant in one’s own universe.
The rest of the world is struggling with the culture shock of working from home.
baking therapy
The third week
The soul needs caresses in the form of vanilla and cinnamon. The local baker is flexible and sells yeast in mega units.
• Marble Cake with Chocolate Overload, according to the Financial Times.
• Marble cake as prescribed by Johann Lafer. Austria should know.
• Rhubarb cake with pastry cream. Tasty but moldy quickly.
• Apple pie, because the recipe calls for almonds and applesauce. See pantry.
• American. A complete success. Presumably now politically correctly named differently.
Can’t the day have 48 hours? Just don’t waste the “free” time.
My dress in the home office and when shopping is deliberately becoming even more formal.
From Saul to Paul
The fourth week
Now everyone distinguishes themselves by declaring the cashiers in the supermarket, the nurses and the doctors as heroes. Alone, I lack the belief that the enthusiasm will continue after the Corona crisis. Even COVID-19 can’t do that. The acting and apparent dismay are unbearable. Keep my judgment to myself. I’ve always thought of nurses as heroes and would never leave the checkout area in the supermarket without saying thank you.
The English are feeling European again and Boris Johnson is being saved thanks to the NHS.
Peter Schröder and Dios von Mondstein, Schauspiel Frankfurt, with their intelligent selection of texts and their humor in the theater from the quarantine, have suddenly become close friends that I no longer want to be without.
Catch me that I haven’t missed some acquaintances at all. Some acquaintances became friends in these weeks.
sheer desperation
The Fifth Week
Days of podcasts by virologists, epidemiologists and other experts always mean a sleepless night. weighing. Trust. distrust. logic breaks. For the first time since the beginning of the crisis, consider abstinence from “Tagesschau”. Talk shows are long gone. Even the summary the next day seems a waste of time. I prefer the media look abroad. If black swans, then with journalistic standards and realism, historical context and “a bit of stiff upper lip”.
Days with statements from the Minister of Finance, belief in the state and the vaccine mean at least two sleepless nights. Seriously consider becoming a member of the Ludwig Erhardt Society before the social market economy consists of just two syllables.
Rational considerations of how long the Corona crisis will last and what economic consequences it will have: Guaranteed three sleepless nights. Does anyone else appreciate the concept of property besides me? Does nobody notice that there is also enormous discrimination behind supposed care for the elderly?
The aperitif in the evening becomes the important turning point of the day. An elegant dress code helps to counteract the aggressiveness of some mask wearers that you have encountered during the day. Stop just before the evening dress, which may not be appreciated outside of English country estates.
Skype, Microsoft Teams, Webex and Zoom
The sixth week
When it comes to the question of what am I going to wear tomorrow, looking at the weather forecast is no longer relevant, but the question of what background for which video conference and what color does the outfit go with it?
In the debriefing of a video conference, the comment of the moderator
ending board: “After many years, we’re starting to talk honestly with each other.”
A good week.
wanderlust
The seventh week
Dios von Mondstein, Schauspiel Frankfurt, was back on the air. His desperately weird song from quarantine about the ongoing closure of the theaters was heartbreaking, but so humorous that I suddenly realized how long I hadn’t laughed out loud. Free artists in free fall — the next phone call freezes your smile again.
My English boss flew to every meeting with British Airways and I with Lufthansa. No problem, the flight plans were almost identical. For each of us, the airline was far more than a carrier, it was always a piece of home.
I only regret the trips I put off in the future. Instead of working out the journey to Japan, start converting part of the garden into a small Japanese retreat. Meditation with the rake. Use the early morning hours not to draw the neighbors’ attention to the cliché too much. Should finally start learning Japanese though. Why can’t the day have 48 hours?
Local(s)
The eighth week
Locally produced foods, with the exception of Scottish salmon and gin, French champagne, English cheese and Italian pasta, have always taken up most of the space in my fridge and pantry. Now it’s time to give extra support to local establishments.
As a result, thanks to take-aways at a whole new level and the support of the family-run deli, I have never eaten better every day.
On the other hand, some companies for which I have generated considerable sales as a customer over the past decade consider even the smallest gesture to be superfluous. The shop assistants in the local bakery are as happy as snow kings about my small gesture of forgoing the change in favor of the “coffee register”.
The bottom line of the eighth week: Optimism is believing the possibilities more than what you have experienced. So back to go.
What I’ve learned in the last few weeks of the Corona shutdown
The uncertainty about the post-corona world takes a lot of energy, especially if you love to plan strategically. If you want to use the time during the shutdown as productively as possible for the development of new projects, the analysis of which energy reserves are currently running out and how they can be replenished is even more important than usual.
Not all proven activities to recharge energy continue to work well in this exceptional situation. No additional stress, let go of what suddenly no longer brings joy (piano), consciously allow time for energy power plants: running in the sunshine, in the rain and as often as possible, in the forest, yoga, gardening and conscious breathing. Add new things you haven’t done before: baking, Latin dance training and enjoying the performances of the Zurich Opera online instead of live.
Visible on skin and hair
Radical tidying up, letting go of projects in order to create space for something new not only mentally but also physically. Communicate more honestly and openly – this reduces and expands the circle of friends at the same time. A stricter approach to the usual news channels. Less time for domestic media, more time for foreign media.
Persistent stressful situations quickly become visible on the skin and hair. Miracle weapons of the cosmetics industry did not help. The best counter-strategy has proven to be to increase the amount of dark green lettuce and vegetables and pay even more attention to foods with a high proportion of omega-3 fatty acids.
In the case of acute attacks of wanderlust, it helps to delve into the photos of previous trips and to console the longing for Italy or other countries with culinary delights.
color helps
The energy of a colored background in a video conference is an asset to all the rest of the participants. You can, but you don’t have to, drink the aperitif at home in an uninspired outfit.
Of course, this list is very individual. But that’s exactly the point: Nothing is as important during this time as mindfulness and resilience in order to build up as much strength as possible for the time afterwards. Going within and observing exactly what builds energy and what reduces energy. In this exceptional situation, some strategies for success from previous crises are obsolete, while others are still constructive. It is important not to give the unknown with the name “New Normality” the space that you can determine yourself.
Let us know what helps you during this time.
