Easter Day 2020

Easter Day 2020

I'm on Fortnum and Mason's mailing list - I love going shopping there, and their tea and biscuit selections are always on my Christmas card list for all my favourite people. Yesterday, their latest message made a great suggestion:

Celebrate Easter in the Great Indoors....

A new take on an old ambition. 

At the moment, we have no picnics; no possibility of inviting friends and family round for an Easter Egg Hunt; no going out. We are mindful of all the advice, and are following it.

So how do we cope instead?

I think that it does not mean that mentally we should be imprisoned in an enclosed space. I know if you are in a tiny flat, with everything so restricted, things are difficult and it's hard to focus on positive aspects; but I keep thinking of the story of the two men in prison, looking out of a tiny window in their cell, and how

"... one man saw the bars, and the other man saw the stars."

I'm also reminded of a poem by Richard Lovelace, which includes the lines:
"Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage."

I was once laid up for months after breaking my leg. It was ghastly, not having the freedom to go out when I wanted, not doing anything on the spur of the moment, or on a whim... I just had to sit tight and wait for the time to pass, while I healed. 

I remember then thinking, "Right - I always go on about not being trapped if my body is not able to go anywhere - my mind is still free to fly wherever it likes! So I had better practise what I preach, and get on with it."

It does take concentration. It takes determination, sheer bloody-mindedness, if you like, not to let things get you down, but if you work at it, it really does work. I wrote a book, and found I really was mentally flying to the places I was writing about, and could forget I was actually stuck at home; I forgot what my actual situation was like.

And like in these trying times, which will one day come to an end, my leg got better. I became confident walking again and eventually threw away my crutches/walking sticks; getting out and about again, never felt more wonderful. 

So this Easter is very different to the ones we've celebrated in earlier years. Apart from the virus, this year marks the first time my Mum is not with us to share the day, and enjoy chocolate Easter Eggs, but maybe it's also a chance for us to think what Easter is really about, and to think of what it means.

This year, we have celebrated Easter in the Great Indoors, with lots of phone calls, messages and e-mails, keeping in touch with our loved ones and with those friends who enrich our lives.