Things Lockdown Has Taught Us Here At Aliwood

Nobody could’ve predicted the past few months we’ve had. It’s been something new for us all, impacting each and every one of us, albeit to varying degrees. Reflecting on the whole situation, it still feels odd to think that this is the life we now live. The reality for a lot of people is that their lives seem very much to have been put on hold, stagnating.

The more disturbing reality for others, however, namely our key workers, is that their lives have been endangered and continue to be so by this virus. It has been a sobering few months, of that there is no doubt. Yet it’s also been a period of time in which things have been put into greater perspective for all of us, and this is something that the team here at Aliwood, bespoke manufacturers of timber roof lanterns, wanted to look at in a little more detail.

Modern Technology Often Gets A Bad Rep – But It Can Also Be Incredibly Positive

Over the past few years there’s been an increasingly toxic atmosphere surrounding social media platforms and other similar online platforms. The damage it can have on a person’s mental health is far from insubstantial. However, modern technology has also proved to be nothing short of a lifesaver for many people during this lockdown. For most people, the only way of staying in contact with one another, whether that be friends, family or even work colleagues, has been through technology and video conferencing software like Zoom and Skype. Weekly quizzes, the capacity to work from home, checking in with grandparents, it’s all been possible thanks to technology.

The Strength Of Community

Whether it be your local street, your work colleagues, your school friends or any other social group you may be part of, most of us have benefitted from coming together, getting through it together. Shared experience breeds empathy, and being empathetic to this situation, this collective ordeal we’re all going through has brought with intense kinship. There’s a bittersweet irony, not lost on us here at Aliwood, in the fact that by staying apart we have, in fact, come closer together as a nation.

Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff And Live In The Present

Putting things into perspective is a bit of a cliché most of the time, but in this case our priorities in life really have become much clearer as a result of the virus. Things that we may have previously got worked up over, now seem trivial in comparison. The importance of letting your loved ones know how much you love them, say, or the tonic that a good belly laugh shared with friends can provide, now seems infinitely more important than how many likes we may have got on a photo, or by what number we see on a set of scales.

The Importance Of Light And Space

I’m sure most of us have gone a little bit stir crazy at one point or another during the lockdown proceedings. It’s been especially difficult for those shielding, those living in the centre of towns and cities, and those without any green space to call their own (those who live in flats, for instance). If there’s one thing that this lockdown has taught us more than anything else, it is just how important natural light and time outdoors is to our overall well being, both mental and physical.

Even here at Aliwood, where our whole company premise revolves around our timber roof lanterns offering up natural light, we too have been struck by just how much of an impact being stuck indoors and away from natural light can have. It strikes us as crucial, therefore, that when lockdown lifts to the point that we have some degree of normality back, that we all get outside more, and make sure we have as much natural light streaming into our home spaces as possible.

Hopefully, we’ll come out of this and hold onto these traits that we’ve – not learnt, but rediscovered – during this pandemic. Qualities synonymous with love, compassions and general human decency. The resilience and spirit showcased throughout has been nothing short of remarkable and we for one, here at Aliwood, are incredibly proud to have been a part of that.

So, if you’d like to find out more about our timber roof lanterns, then get in touch! Contact Aliwood today on 01245 967107.