And so concludes our virtual trip to Ibiza circa 2019..when dancing was still a thing. A time when massive groups of people were not only allowed but extremely willing to be crammed together on the dancefloor, breathing each other’s breath, sweating each other’s sweat. These things might seem fairly undesirable right now but that was kind of the point. You were packed in so tightly together that all barriers between individuals were broken down. You were no longer separate entities. You became one gi-normous amorphous blob of rhythmic motion. And yes, that was considered a good thing.
The pandemic has proven categorically one thing..we need to interact with each other. It is imperative. We cannot properly function without human to human contact which is why having to keep away from each other is proving so friggin hard. We are mammals. We are designed to be close to one another. That is why we are so hot. (37 degrees on the inside to be precise) It’s so we can keep each other warm. Physically and metaphorically.
How do we cope with being apart from each other like this? In all honesty I don’t know but it is evident that we are failing to do so. Certainly not enough to stop the spread of the virus which is the whole point. We should be able to but clearly it is having a very detrimental effect on us all. And the longer it goes on the more it is going to grind us down. I have spoken to a lot of people this week and everyone seems incredibly despondent which is hardly a surprise as we are now six months in and it might as well be day 1 because we have made zero progress.
And as depressing as that is I urge you all to stay strong and keep your chins up. Let’s be honest, this ain’t going anywhere anytime soon so we are gonna have to settle in for the long haul which requires a deeper level of acceptance from all of us. We must endure this. And it will pass. The 2nd world war lasted 6 years and that was endured. This is like a war situation only difference is the enemy is invisible. I’m not saying its gonna last 6 years but we need to start thinking about it in those terms, for our own sanity.
We keep expecting this to end any day and it just won’t. And that sucks to high heaven but all we have to do is survive this. No more, no less. And that includes not losing our shit. We need to keep ourselves together for as long as this lasts and we’re gonna have to toughen the fuck up, just like previous generations did. We’ve had everything handed to us on a plate. No-one has ever said no to us. We have done what we wanted when we wanted. Well, now we can’t and we are just gonna have to pucker up and deal with it. No way round it I’m afraid.
I will be back on the streets of London as of Monday but it has been great to have got away from it for a few weeks, even if it was only virtually. And, now, as I walk past the masses in masks and wonder how the fuck this came to pass I will cast my mind to a time and a place when it hadn’t happened yet and pray for the day when it returns…
