MY 2-MINUTE READS
REFLECTIONS IN A LOCKED DOWN WORLD
PART 1
THE DRAWER slides effortlessly open on its runners. It is not deep, it is not wide but it holds snapshots of many memories. Each object triggering a flashback to events long in the past yet vividly etched in the diary of my mind. A compass, the cord wrapped tightly around its body, has lain untouched for a year; all because of limited travel possibilities in a locked down world. Cards in a rainbow of colours, each representing some form of authorisation; access to somewhere, reward points towards something, a free coffee, the loan of a book from the local library, membership to a professional body, access to art. They lie in a pile, stacked in no particular order. I consider their future. Should I just shred the lot?
My eyes continue to flicker over the contents of the drawer, a plethora of unconnected items like random pieces from a jigsaw. Do any of them even connect? My eyes linger lovingly over a black rectangular pouch. I smile. Inside this pouch lies my camera with which every finger press, I have captured so many travel moments. Moments otherwise lost in time, in the haze of more recent events. It remains a tool, a loyal companion, a medium to unlock those more distant experiences gone by. Next to the pouch is my old mobile phone, already considered vintage in today’s society of fast-paced technological production. The object remains inert, a black cable loosely curled around its form. A reminder that it must be powered up before old messages from five, six, seven years ago will be revealed in all their digital glory.
There are many more objects and memories packed into this drawer but I have no time to reflect over them; the day has begun and I must focus my attention on its immediate needs and demands while hoping that some day soon I shall be back out there, at large in the world, capturing new memories, and writing new travel tales beyond these four walls of mine, and beyond the boundaries of our locked down world.
With thanks to Naomi Epel for the OBSERVATION DECK that accompanies her book “A Tool Kit for Writers” which has inspired this creative moment to exercise my author's brain.