Vivid 2022 - My thoughts

I am ecstatic that an event that was scheduled to happen (an Arts Festival called Vivid Sydney) was able to take place this year in 2022.

It was cancelled the previous two years due to COVID19.  I'm glad it could happen this year.

I didn't take it for granted, though.  The last time I attended was in 2019, when I went to Darling Harbour - it was the first time I ever attended this annual event.  So I made a promise to myself I would attend every year (until it got cancelled last year and the previous year).

Even if I only see one thing or just one area where it takes place, I can at least say I have seen it.

And usually, things like this happen.  But the last two years have taught us that we can't always get what we want.

Events like this add fun and joy to my life.  Without them, my life isn't as fun or interesting.  Also, I gain inspiration from them.

Often, without them, life goes on still (well, at least for me it does).  But for people who have made plans surrounding them, those plans might be disrupted.

Sometimes, events like this get cancelled or postponed because of things beyond our control, like COVID19 or the weather.  It went ahead this year, as scheduled.

This taught me that sometimes, you can't have everything, and that you must learn to 'make your own fun'.  The idea of making my own fun at home has become especially important during the lockdowns from the last two years.

Like I said, life still goes on for me personally.  I still have to go to work.  But if I get sick, I can't go to work.

It's probably worse for other people who have put their hearts and souls into this event, only to find out it's cancelled.  

Alot of artists and musicians see this as an opportunity to get as much publicity as they can for their work.  And it creates opportunities for other people too, especially those that work in the arts and entertainment, or in tourism, events and hospitality.

To see that taken away from people makes me sad for these people.  This is especially so when people aren't sick, because they will be bored and want to get out and about.  They don't want to miss out because of other people who are sick.  That is what those lockdowns have been doing.

On the other hand, I have also known other people who have found other ways around the pandemic.

Someone I knew who was a personal trainer - she wasn't able to get to the gym.  So she would conduct her fitness and personal training sessions from her home, using technology like Zoom and Facebook video (more specifically - Facebook Live).

An artist could also give lessons online like this - drawing, painting, graphic design etc.

I know it's not the same as going into a class and getting direct feedback from a teacher or interacting with the students, especially because the teacher could help the students correct their artwork.  But it's the next best thing, because the lessons can be still conducted in real time or they can be recorded for later.  There's that convenience of doing things from home, while also being able to physically distance yourself to avoid catching the 'coof'.

The real joy, I find, is getting out and doing or seeing things I normally wouldn't otherwise do or see.  When I had COVID19 over the Easter break, I couldn't even do my shopping, let alone go to the Easter Show or to church or anything else that I would otherwise have that option of doing before the pandemic, and if I weren't sick.

I couldn't go on rides or buy fairy floss, or eat heaps of fairy floss and/or go on the rides and make myself sick!!!  As in, doing the vom-vom kind of sick.  But that was due to actually being sick, like bedridden sick.

Now that I have bounced back from that 'disease', I intend to catch up on what I have been missing out on, and on Friday last week, that's what I did!!!

Cheers

Night Owl.