It’s funny how your mind tends to take you to places you really really don’t want to explore. Or perhaps funny isn’t the word. 

I don’t know when I’ll see my family again becomes;
I don’t know if I’ll ever see my family again.
Hang on, what if I never see them again? 

While my family and many of my friends are on full lock-down on the other side of the world, I am stuck here in Australia. The country many would call ‘paradise on earth’ feels like a gilded cage to me. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the views my daily sunrise walk has to offer. But the distance and the uncertainty hurt more now than ever before.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamt of travelling and living abroad. Over the years, travel has been my passion, my lifestyle, my raison d’etre. Now that it’s become a distant memory, my partner and I have found ourselves isolated on the other side of the world. Yes, technology makes it better. No, I wouldn’t change my past for the world. But damn it’s tough. 

What if something happened to them? 
What if something happened to me? 
What if this became the new norm?

There are no words to describe the pain that comes with these thoughts but my eyes have remained dry. Truth is I’m so lucky. I’m lucky they’re alive. I’m lucky I’m alive. Unlike for many others – to whom my heart goes out to – if everything remains the same, I’ll have the chance to see them again. 

Flashes fill my brain. One memory comes back again and again. I see the four of us hugging at the airport as I return from … who knows where. There have been so many of these moments in our shared lifetime that they all blur into one. Yet, the emotions remain – overwhelming and unforgiving. I can’t wait to go through one of these arrivals again. When I do, be warned, I’ll squeeze you all tighter and longer than ever before.

These unprecedented times are reminding me – and perhaps you too – to take a moment to cherish what and who we have in our lives. As the world we know today continues to take unexpected twists and turns, our current reality could shortly become ancient history or new normality. All we can do is take it a minute, an hour, a day at a time while allowing ourselves to dream, even just for a second, about what our reunions with family and friends will be like.

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Meanwhile, stay safe and spread kindness x