A couple of days ago, we got the news that the Bingham Cup, a huge and exciting rugby tournament has been cancelled for this year. Given someone else paid for my ticket to Canada, I’m hoping Air New Zealand will still actually be around in 2022, and also that they’ll postpone my ticket.
Since my level of enthusiasm for anything can be directly tied to how much rugby (or cricket, let’s not forget I’m tragic about that too) is involved in it, I am pretty gutted. It’s hard to motivate yourself out for fitness training when not only are you doing it on your own in a bubble but also there’s nothing on the cards to get fit for. I don’t even know when community rugby will actually kick off.
A lot of people are really keen to get back to “normal life”. I’m not super enthused about normal life in general, but what I do really want to get back is having something to look forward to. Things that are big and exciting and for which you have to plan an outfit*. Ironically, these are also the things which give me the most anxiety.
But right now, there’s nothing to look forward to. There’s nothing to plan an outfit for. Everything is cancelled or online, and you don’t need to plan an outfit for your living room. I realise how closely connected I am with my global friends and fam (also how my mother doesn’t know how to get a good angle on a video call). But also how much of my mental health revolves around having something shiny and exciting and stressful in the distance – and how many of those things revolve around rugby.
So that’s what I want. I want to know when I can look forward to things again. Someone let me know please.
(Other things cancelled – Most of the rep rugby this season, my BFFs wedding in Greece, and a convention which I was excited about for all of three days before it got shunted online.)
*I’ve come to my isolation with a very limited wardrobe and it’s kind of embarrassing.
Image Credit:
Jake Kokot