Jodie | Blenheim, Marlborough

“This might not be the ‘different’ that others might think of, but I had a positive experience from lockdown. My needs were met.

I got to spend time with my family, but I soon realised, coming out of lockdown that not everybody experienced the same thing, and that difference was really apparent with how we have resilience or how we deal with difficult, unusual situations, and they can be positive or negative in the differences for people.

I guess what I learned is to really step back from my own personal experience, and what it felt like for me, and to really put myself in other people’s shoes to see how it was different from them and not make the assumption that it was as I’d experienced. Just letting people speak and share, before I offered my own feelings on things.

So, the difference from lockdown, was feeling really grateful for my mental wellbeing. I felt quite strong, quite secure, but seeing some examples of people, realising that anxiety increased greatly, and so what might have just been sitting in the background for them, came right to the forefront and feeling really uncertain about things.

Through our networks we heard examples of how people were feeling isolated, or equally they really appreciated when people were connecting with them and keeping in touch with them. It reassured them and gave them some security about not being able to have face to face contact with people. Young people, it was examples like they weren’t getting marks on their study, and they were unsure about what that would mean for the future. So, just all those little examples showed how difficult it was for some people, and all the things going through their mind during that time.

I grew up in the wonderful Wairarapa, in the North Island and loved my childhood up there, but soon realised I wanted to be a South Islander, and I’ve lived in the South Island for the last 27 years. My background is in social work and education. I talked a lot at school, and I love people, so I soon found that I could do a lot of talking, with a lot of people if I went into social work and education. So, now I work for the Marlborough District Council, and get to work with a range of community groups and enjoy making connections with people, and connecting people with relevant networks and supports for them.”