NIOGO: Not Interested In Going Out
The benefits of lockdown emerge only as it lifts. I have a mild case of NIOGO.
Jamie Bull has coined the acronym NIOGO, meaning Not Interested In Going Out. We’re not scared, we don’t have FOGO (Fear Of Going Out). But speaking for myself, I am still rather enjoying several hours a day of pleasant inertia. I need this right now for reasons unrelated to lockdown, but at any time, privacy and inertia are a fertile combination for the imagination.
How is it that for weeks on end I managed to exercise twice a day, produce a Bad Drawing and thus a blog post almost every day, make some videos of my poems, and still “waste” at least three hours of my working day? No idea. Maybe because inertia is nectar for poets? Like boredom, although I’ve never managed to achieve that. My inertia consists of lolling in a rocking chair, reading, watching videos or playing games, and also doing household chores very very very slowly. It’s all good, I reckon.
For all that, I am out in the world. Loving my first dance classes and coffees in company. Moving slowly when it comes to shopping: I went to buy coffee filters and a drawing pen, that took two hours including impromptu lunch, because of bad planning. Upside: I also got three new coloured pencils and a pencil holder 🙂
So I’m extremely pleased (and a tad guilty) when others propose an outing or get-together, because I am adopting a passive stance. And I’m not alone in this:
Vast majority of New Zealanders don’t want to return to office after Covid-19, reports The Guardian.
Thanks for showing me something I hadn’t expected…and yes, one of the prime reasons it seems to me is that it’s not a “real fear” but rather as winter chills arrive, I’m loathe to leave my nice warm house and brave the wind, the rain and the lack of sun out there. I’m going to make an effort, even though I have to use public transport which still has limits on number abroad them at any one time…my daytime group returns this Wednesday to our Queens Arcade, I hope it won’t be be horrid weather day, as I think a nice trip into town would be great. Plus I could factor in maybe a trip to the Art Store…
a couple of wrong words, “on board” not “aboard” … honestly my brain to keyboard ideals are getting worse!
It’s not your fault. We all get text predictor nonsense.
Good luck with the weather
Your piece is perceptive on the incidental benefits of isolation … an equalising experience with considerable rollover potential!
Indeed!
Yes, we have the same over here. When we are allowed to have a face to face staff meeting together, everyone is opting for zoom. It’s good though, there something quietly productive here happening in the office. Personally I’d love things to continue this way, so long as we are making money of course!!
I know you’ll find a way.
Thatt would be me too.
We’re cautiously creeping out of lockdown in SA and I too am wary of Going Out, other than a weekly shop, and a walk around my gated community. I too have enjoyed the days in which to bask in the sun, read, play Tetris, word puzzles, Free Cell, listen to music, potter about in my house and garden. In short, not doing much. Sure, I have missed my U3A group meetings and other club meetings, but … my Jury is undecided at the moment.
I wish I knew how to achieve guilt free inertia.
“Stay home. Save lives. Be kind.” That was the message of our prime minister in lockdown — which made inertia a patriotic act!