Kingston upon Thames, England, United KingdomSolace in small things
We imagine that right now many of us are finding out about themselves and perhaps their partners too.
If you already had the the kind of life where you are both at home all day then this has probably been fairly easy. If you were used to a life apart the learning curve has been a steep one we imagine. We don’t suppose any of those reading this are contributing to the 20% upswing in domestic violence but it’s a clear indication that like old age, isolation ain’t for sissies.
Curious new words and habits have crept in. Very few of us were having Zoom calls two months ago. Many of us had never had a grocery delivery. The division between weekday and weekend disappeared. The demands of social distancing means that when, rarely now of course, we encounter someone we know the conventions of hugs, handshakes and our preferred distancing can no longer happen. Very few people we know are not drinking more. When every day is Dayday there seems no good reason not to open a bottle. Our frequent cyber-cocktails with friends demand a suitable beverage. Though by way of balance we sense that we are cooking more and eating better. But how is our mental health, and does how you fare in these strange and frightening days depend on your personality?
The four temperament theory is an ancient proto-psychological theory which suggested that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. We have long sought to understand ourselves, to categorise our behaviours and perhaps issue judgment.
There is a ridiculously long list of psychological testing methods including: DISC (Dominance, Influence, Conscientiousness, Steadiness) HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience.
); Revised NEO Personality Inventory; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; The Eysenck Personality Inventory; Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory; Birkman method; Hogan Personality Inventory; Rorschach Inkblot Test; Szondi test; Caliper; True Colours Test to name a dozen and there are more!
To save you the bother of doing a test we wonder if you recognise yourself from this entirely made up list of lockdown types: (none mutually exclusive)
The Project Manager - you’re creating your family tree, transcribing your vinyl to digital. Starting to look at your old photographs with a view to sorting them out. You have been to the loft, the garage, the deepest recesses of drawers and are making it your (new) life’s work to create order and sense from the chaos.
The Home Maker - you’ve made new curtains, weeded the drive, replanted all the perfectly happy plants from one side of the garden to the other, touched up the paint work. Amazon has been working full time to meet your needs for gadgets, widgets and useful things.
You are up-cycling your sofa - it’s now a fine planter for your tomatoes and cucumbers
The Home Chef - You have tried the Ottolenghi recipe with 27 obscure ingredients. it was worth the 2 days of ordering stuff off the internet. One of you is suddenly doing their share of the cooking. Twenty minutes after your last meal you find yourself talking about the next one. You have started having afternoon tea because three meals a day is hardly adequate.
The Deep Cleaner - You have found the five years out of date jar of ginger, and you have for a brief moment considered using it. You are keeping schtum about the layer of crumbs that were living in your drawers. You have Marie Kondo’d your house. it takes 30 minutes a day to fold your knickers into miniature versions of Mount Fujiama. It takes another 20 minutes to say thank you to your pots and pans and the doors and plasterboard and the……
The Conspiracy Theorist - you suspect Dominic Cummings created Covid to ensure a cliff-edge Brexit, you think the government app will steal your data, you think it’s all a global plot to end cash and further enrich the rich and now you’ve got proof.
The Hobbyist - You have discovered amigurumi - the Japanese art of crocheting small creatures or characters. You have unpicked all your jumpers and are re-knitting them into new shapeless socks and sofa throws.
The Drinker - well, all these Zoom, Skype and Houseparty calls need a little lubrication. You are wondering whether you can combine drinking with Karaoke.
The Viewer - Thank goodness for Netflix, Amazon. You have watched 27,000 hours of iPlayer archive material. Z -Cars and Emergency Ward 10 are your next binge watches.
The time waster - you are doing jigsaws, quizzes, FaceBook challenges, the birds in the garden account for hours of your attention. You have dared to think about and plan a holiday for 2022.
The culture buff - You have taken virtual tours through the Uffizi and the British Museum. You are learning Swahili, have learnt to meditate, and have watched all the NT Live shows on YouTube. We gave up on Frankenstein we are ashamed to admit.
Heather
2020-05-08
Thanks fir the type casting; I fit neatly in between the time waster (especially watching the birds washing in the pond) and the culture buff although did give up on the very shouting Anthony & Cleopatra last night. I do get odd guilt twinges that I’ve only cleaned one & half cupboards & am so late for Squires plant ordering service they’ll arrive for spring 2021 but these moments of self critique for not being a DIY guru or a hotshot housewife are all very brief & after all there’s a gorgeous young blackbird in the pond!
Maire and Alec
2020-05-08
Enjoyed the latest instalment very much but note that you have omitted nightly watching free streams from New York Met Opera.
Pat
2020-05-08
I'm a Drinking, conspiracy theorist time waster. And really wish people would cease sending me photos of their 4 course gourmet meals or exotic cakes. In defense I sent back a photo of a cup of tea today as that was the most creative thing I'd managed!
Clare
2020-05-09
I'm a home making chef, deep cleaning, culture buff viewer.