We Are All In This Together!
None of us could ever have imagined what would have happened to the world in the last few weeks. We are seeing things we wouldn't even see in our worst nightmares. So many people unable to work and queuing for food, even a shortage of toilet rolls! Turning on the news daily and seeing pictures of makeshift morgues and people dying. Exhibitions halls turned into temporary hospitals. So many people losing their jobs and businesses overnight. Who could imagine a world where cancer patients don't come first anymore in healthcare?
But this is our new reality! There is no time to waste, worrying about politics and our own personal beliefs about what should be happening. We must get behind the people who know much more than we do. Have faith, and do what we are told. Whether they are right or wrong, only time will tell, but we have never seen anything like this before. So as in many situations now, history cannot be our guide.
With the severity of my cancer and its treatment I really felt I had seen the worst in my life. Learning to deal with the constant fear of recurrence and isolation. But no, I feel even more vulnerable as I am in the most 'at risk' group. Struggling to buy food and fearing that, if anything goes physically wrong, I won't be able to get treatment. My wife is also told not to go out because of the risk to my health, and we can no longer see our family.
Everyday life as we know it, is on hold and I'm not sure it will ever be the same again. Many businesses large and small will not be able to recover. Meaning people will be looking at new ways of working, including ironically, working from home. Some have already taken to the Internet with their online ideas, several of which may be sustainable in the long term.
This situation is only temporary, hopefully only a few months if we're lucky. But it calls for us to be innovative. For most outside of healthcare it might be a case of using our skills in a totally different way to help people. We all need to step up and do some creative thinking. Of course for a lot of people it will purely be about surviving this period. Most of us will be experiencing many things for the first time.
So for the next few weeks at least I would like to use my blog to share an insight into people's lives during this crisis. I would like anyone to share with me approx 500 words of what they are personally experiencing and how it makes them feel. Maybe you have never written anything before? All the better. Are you self isolating, a key worker, working in the NHS, or a parent doing home schooling? Anyone who would like to share with the world their thoughts and emotions?
When I started this site I had never written anything before. My idea was that by sharing my negative experiences it might help other with theirs. It certainly has achieved that and continues to. But an initially unseen benefit is that it is so cathartic for me. Which is a benefit you might not understand until you do it.
I believe that this way of sharing will help so many, which has already begun with my #NHS Community. When things feel tough, we often think that we are the only ones feeling like this. That is rarely the case and it always helps to communicate with others. We have been very lucky with one thing! That is we are living in the age of social-media and the Internet. Meaning that we can communicate frequently and cheaply with people around the world.
I would therefore like to use my site for the greater good so people can understand what others are experiencing. Please feel free to get in touch at https://www.chris-cancercommunity.com/ or via any of my social-media channels if you would be interested in writing a piece to feature on this site!
We are all in this together so stay safe!
Cheers, Chris.
