Here a quote from a lengthy piece written by a seasoned refugee now living in the UK. This young chap writes so well and with gentle humour too.
You’re new to the refugee game, so let me give you some advice. You can’t plan for the future. You can’t guess how long it will be. So don’t. Plan for today. Shop for the week. Have goals for the month. Pause your long-term ambitions and work on small achievements you can control. You’ve lost control over the future, but COVID-19 has proved you never really had it. This is a great time to learn to enjoy what you can right now and do what you can with what you have today because that’s all that’s certain. Small moments of connection and laughter are the best things you’ll ever have.
I was recommended this article by Angie via email.
Here are her further reflections on the situation we find ourselves in.
The other comparison I’ve heard is we’re under house arrest. It’s quite a benign arrest but still, we are confined under certain restrictions. Solitary confinement is one of the toughest regimes to endure and sends some people mad. We do have the internet and ways to communicate but we can’t touch one another – unless we have immediate family living with us. So no direct human contact via touch. As human animals, we do need people!
And the weirdest part is that we are all going through this at the same time. With bereavement, for example, we feel it acutely but the world continues around us, and is there for us to step back into as & when we are ready or need to. So there is a “normality” to comfort us. With this everyone is going through their own versions of loss & dealing with it in their own ways. It feels fragile.
And it is what it is!