Confronted with a global pandemic, writer Lea McInerney experiences the freedom to create while receiving regular government payments In September 2020, two months into Melbourne’s second lockdown, I was doing my allotted hour of physical activity when a pleasant feeling that wasn’t just feel-good-exercise-chemicals flowed through me. A surprising thought followed: “I’m really happy.” I’d just had another weekday of the same routine: get up, eat breakfast, go to my desk, write more of the story I’m working on, knock off after six or seven hours, go for a walk, cook dinner, eat, chat, read, bed. Then the next day, start over again, same routine, same rhythm. On weekends, I’d scale things back a bit and do an hour or two of writing, go shopping for groceries and clean up around home. As I walked around the park that day feeling happy, I looked at the other masked walkers and wondered how they were getting on. Had their pre-Covid work selves changed dramatically like mine?' (Introduction)
