Lifting Lockdown – Italy Reopens

freedom

/ˈfriːdəm/

“the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved”

Similar: liberty, liberation, release

Freedom. I’ve given a lot of thought to that word in the almost 70 days of one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. In those days and months, the world changed – some say permanently – and we have changed along with it.

We’ve shifted our priorities, stretched our imaginations and altered the way we perceive the world around us.  

Life in lockdown

Like most of us, I’ve watched the lives of friends, family, strangers and celebrities unfold on social media. It’s been the only way we’ve been able to stay connected in this global locked down phenomenon.

I can tell you what Kim Kardashian keeps in the biggest of her five refrigerators and I don’t even like Kim Kardashian. I’ve learned how to give a decent men’s haircut by watching an online tutorial given by a Hollywood stylist demonstrating on a mannequin head; and I’ve enjoyed scores of father/daughter dancing and/or singing duets played out to various degrees of hilarity and adorableness.

I’ve stayed connected – watching and reading things online I would never have given a thought to back in the ‘normal’ days. The days before COVID-19 snuck up behind us, like a thief in the night, and stole life as we knew it.

Overnight, our fast-paced, full-scheduled, trying to ‘make ends meet’, ‘get it all done’, crazy busy lives came to a halt. Gone were the appointments on our crammed calendars, the commute to the office, our social commitments.

Our freedom.

Here in Italy, we could not leave our house without threat of a major fine for any reason other than emergencies, medical appointments and once a week grocery shopping by one family member. I know the rest of the world followed suit with different rules and versions of lockdown but there is no question, Italy has endured one of the longest and toughest quarantines.

We have all struggled with this government-imposed isolation in different ways. For those who live alone, the lack of human touch has often been the hardest. For me, it was knowing that I couldn’t just leave my driveway and keep on walking; for as long and as far as I wanted. Knowing I did not have the freedom to go where I wanted, lead to more than a few bouts of anxiety.

The few times I did venture out with Peter to do the shopping – knowing one of us would have to wait in the car but just needing to leave our property – we were paranoid of being stopped by the police and having to explain why we were ‘out’. We ducked and dodged down side streets finding ways to avoid a roadblock. My heart would race, my palms get clammy, my chest tight until we returned to the safety of our driveway.

I stopped going out at all. It wasn’t worth the toll on my mental health.

So I hunkered down, worked on our land and waited…

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Waited for the virus to run its course. Waited for news that it was safe to go out again.

And then it came. Despite the fact, COVID-19 is alive and well and continuing to wreak havoc in northern Italy, the numbers in the rest of the country were deemed good enough to ‘reopen’ Italy.

This meant we could finally go out, without carrying a declaration form explaining why we left our house. We could get take out food from one of the few restaurants finally opening up.

And most important of all, we could see friends.  We were free again.

But then a funny thing happened. I noticed few people were reaching out to make plans with friends. It seemed many of us were tentative, cautious, like children on their first day of school – unsure of how to be around each other or what was expected of us.

I had my first coffee date with some girlfriends yesterday. I hadn’t seen them since early March. It felt strange not to be able to hug or kiss each other. In the bar, one of the locals said the new world order of social distancing has been the hardest thing for Italians. “How will we be able to live without embracing each other?” he asked emphatically through his mask. How indeed. It does feel like such a loss.

A taste of freedom

Yet as we emerge from our cocoons and are able to meet and talk with each other, I’ve discovered many of us share similar thoughts and feelings. We’re not anxious to resume our busy lives. We’ve enjoyed this quiet time to reflect, to slow down, to be creative. We feel almost guilty that we don’t know what to do with this newfound freedom.  

The world has shifted on its axis and I believe that once we find a way to eradicate the virus, and if we can’t then to live with it, we will see that some good will come out of these dark times – some positive change.

Maybe we will finally commit to putting love before hate, family before career, lives before profit. Maybe we will give ourselves permission to leave that unfulfilling job, go out on that limb, throw open that long closed door.

Maybe we will give in to that longing, that inner voice. We’ve had time to be with ourselves – to listen to our hearts. What is yours saying?

I read somewhere we will look back on this time as BC and AC – ‘Before Covid’ and ‘After Covid’. That is the power of the impact this virus has had on the world. Be open to that change. If you’ve been following my blog, you may have read my post titled, ‘Be Open to Change’. If not, here is the link.

Be Open to Change

For Peter and I, we have taken a leap of faith and moved from our beautiful townhouse in a medieval village to 7 acres of land in the Umbrian countryside, complete with 225 olive trees.

The day lockdown was lifted we got the news the long awaited start of our renovation was finally beginning. So along with coffee and lunch dates with friends, we’ve been running around looking for floor tiles and bathroom fixtures as we take on yet another Italian renovation.

Since my post ‘Renovating a House in Italy’ remains in the top three most read pieces, I thought there may be interest in following the renovation journey of our newly christened house, Montelago. 

I will be sharing the progress of our renovation in future posts.  If you haven’t subscribed yet on the homepage, sign up for direct links in your inbox.

Renovating A House In Italy

I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have written me over these past months encouraging me to keep on writing and sharing positive feedback with me. I am so grateful for your support.

Until next time, be happy and stay safe.

A presto

Anna