June 2020
I’m catching up to writing this a few months after the end of June, which is ironic for a series I originally planned to make my photography and culture consumption throughout the year easier to track. I spent most of June on sudden furlough along with the rest of my organisation thanks to a classic last-minute flexible furlough announcement from the government. It felt like a difficult time to be away from work, but it was also much-needed space to do other work. I read a lot and watched a lot, went to workshops organised by my football team and had a lot of conversations with friends and colleagues on how to be better forces for good in our lives and workplaces.
I moved into my flatmate’s front bedroom, and discovered too late at the end of my three year tenancy that it is this room that traps all of the sunlight in the entire flat. I tracked my days quite meticulously in a google doc, I think partly in fear of the great expanse of nothingness 3 weeks of furlough seemed - although now I wish I’d had 3 months of it to get my head together while still receiving a salary. I saw more and more friends at a social distance; found new tenants for my flat; did some socially-distanced photoshoots; went on a long country walk with friends; cooked a lot went back into the centre of London for the first time; and was reunited with Kellie, with whom I adopted a sunflower.
top film: The Watermelon Woman. This was an amazing month for film-watching for me, down to the incredible lists of resources flying around and the free time to consume them provided by furlough
top book: Happiness, Aminatta Forna