Lockdown has been isolating for people like me. I haven’t seen my family, I haven’t seen my friends and I have spent my time in our flat, which has no garden.
My daughter is only little and she has been a delight. I have watched her grow and explore, as she learns new things everyday. It’s been wonderful to have had that time but now that lockdown is being eased, it has been difficult to get used to the ‘new normal’ For me, my new normal is very restricting. I struggle to have the energy to see people again and I find the outdoors incredible and exhausting at the same time because it feels like a sensory overload.
At the same time, I want to be outside. I want to feel the grass and the sun on my face. I want to be able to go on a walk in my wheelchair and breathe in the fresh air.
Unfortunately, my electric wheelchair needs a new battery. Being without it has made me feel so much more dependent on everyone else, even to do simple things. I value my electric wheelchair so much and this has made me love it even more. I’m waiting to get it fixed and I can’t wait. I called my wheelchair ‘Indie’ because it really gives me so much more independence. As I begin to join this Dystopian world again, I will be even more grateful for a working ‘Indie’ because my wheelchair really are like a part of my body.
Thank you to Rebecca Tarry for providing the artwork.