Lockdown Loves | Part One

If you’re anything like me, lockdown will have left you feeling like you’ve completed Netflix by now. With this in mind, I wanted to take the monthly ‘favourites’ concept and do something different with it.

Rather than giving you a list of things to buy, I’ve put together a list of that content I’ve found interesting and informative over the past four months.

I’ve been following…

I have become obsessed with interior design during lockdown. One time my boyfriend went to facetime his friends in our bedroom and, when he came back, I’d covered our kitchen tiles with self-adhesive stickers to make them a different colour. Madness.

Anyway, you can see why I was happy to discover Medina Grillo (@grillodesigns) on Instagram. Medina rents, as do I, but she has the best ideas for making a space that you don’t own feel like yours. Her home is such a breath of fresh air in comparison to the all grey everything that seems to have swept through home design Insta accounts.

Another account that I’ve been loving is Write About Now Poetry (@wanpoetry). I’ve found it to be a really great account to follow during the BLM movement, as a lot of the spoken word featured is from BIPOC. My two stand-out poems have been “I’m so Black” by Rj Wright (@therealrjwright) and Xach Blunt (@xachblunt) and “Being a Young Woman is so Hard” by Ebony Stewart (@gullyprincess).

 

I’ve been watching…

Something that I can recommend with my whole heart is I May Destroy You, written by and starring Michaela Coel. It’s one of the most unique things I’ve seen in a long while, it’s so perceptive, dealing with a range of themes in such an authentic, witty and sharp way – and the last episode? Ugh, amazing.

There are a few YouTube videos that I want to recommend too. The first is Hannah Witton’s video on make-up. I’m someone who always thought I wore make-up for myself, so it’s been interesting to see that I’ve just not bothered with it at all since lockdown started. It’s made me rethink my relationship with it and Hannah seems to be going through a similar thought process, and it was nice to hear someone vocalise these thoughts.

The second is Leena Norms’ video on apathy. It’s a really great video about admitting what you don’t know and committing to learning more about these things. She also talks about habit building in a way that will positively impact the world, which is a very cool way to look at how we can make a difference.

The third is For Harriet’s video ‘No, the police cannot be reformed’, which sees her interview Alex Vitale – a sociology professor who has been studying policing for 25 years and believes the system must be defunded. It’s an eye-opener and a great place to start for anyone new to the debate. Plus, it’s got some great facts and evidence that you can use if you’re ever discussing this with a family member or friend who doesn’t understand why people are calling for the police to be defunded.

Stay tuned

Turns out that four months means I have consumed A LOT of content. Who knew that my brain has actually been taking things in and learning during this really weird time?

I’ve decided to split this into two separate blogs, with the next instalment focusing on what I’ve been listening to, reading and doing during lockdown – so keep your eyes peeled.

Do you have anything you’d add to my list? Lockdown isn’t properly over in the UK, so I’m in need of new things to put in my ears and eyes – let me know any recommendations you have in the comments!