Love In The Time Of Corona
I Was Waiting
I was waiting … waiting. It had to happen, and it did. The perfect book title – or so it seemed. As I write this there are currently sixteen, yes, sixteen books on Amazon titled Love in the Time of Corona. And that’s not counting the variations such as Lust in the Time of Corona, a short term version of the real thing. He he.
Was I tempted? You bet I was.
What stopped me? A few things.
First of all it just seemed too obvious.
Secondly, I had a feeling it might be popular.
Thirdly, I don’t write that quick. I would have had to predict the whole pandemic situation, and … despite the fact I would love to have psychic powers, paranormal abilities, I would say I have … at best, a strong intuition at times, and at worst … yeah, I got nothin’. Where are we up to?
Fourthly (is that even word?) I have too much respect for the writings of Senior Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I love his work. Love in the Time of Cholera, his original and incomparable work is too great a masterpiece to be “franchised” in any way for a quick buck. Okay, maybe I’m a bit of a purist.
Fifthly (that just looks wrong, but hey) I just wanna get through this shite time. I certainly don’t feel like memorialising it with any sort of lasting art work. Furthermore, I absolutely do not feel like channelling my creative energy in that direction.
What Did Readers Think?
From what I’ve heard, I’m not alone. I can’t vouch for the quality of any of these reads. Some may prove to be epic, but the buzz out there in the indie publishing world is that they are not selling well.
Personally, I think Help I Got Stuck With My Psycho Ex in the Time of Corona, or Crazy House Mates in the Time of Corona might be better representations of what has been happening out there with us all in isolation. Or even, Shit Bored in the Time of Corona. Hmm, still not the perfect book title.
My Iso Experience
I started isolation, like a lot of people by finding myself unemployed. Choosing to make lemonade, I threw myself into writing. You see, a little voice had been whispering in my ear, if only I could give up work and write full time. Could I do it? What could I achieve?? So, iso was sort of like a gift from the Corona Gods. I also had my duology Maddie Meets Kara and Maddie and Kara coming out, and my novella, Good Girl Bad Girl to finish and release. This would have been a monumental task if I had been working. Surely it would be easily achievable in my unbounded leisure.
Of course at that stage I was unaware of the time I would have to spend hunting for essentials like toilet paper, eggs and passata. And then, there was (and still is) that nagging little (large?) sense of anxiety about what was happening in the world and where it was all going. Oh, gawd, let me out of here!
I Wasn’t Alone
I breathed a sigh of relief when I read articles from psychologists saying, stop expecting to get as much done as you used to. The message was clear — don’t underestimate the toll this uncertain time is taking on everyone.
This forced me to ease off and respect myself a little more, expect a little less of myself.
The Silver Lining
Possibly one of the best things to come out of all this is the lesson I’ve learned about being kind to myself and others. I learned to listen to that small inner voice urging me to rest, to smell the roses, to listen to some favourite tunes, to facetime with my friends. On top of that I chose to break the rules and have tea with my elderly neighbours.
It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that many of us have learned the same lesson. As the world gets crazier, kindness becomes so much more important.
Maybe Love in the Time of Corona is not the perfect book title, but it is something we all would do well to focus on – a personal mission if you will. I know I need it, the people around me need it and the world sure as eggs needs as much of it as it can get.
** Gorgeous image from <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/flower’>Flower photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com</a>
