Katie, Wellington

I don’t get it, how could anyone not sprint home every day and say, ‘I saw Jacinda!?’ I mean he loves her, he’s just not star struck by anybody.

I’m Katie, I’m 34 and I live in Mount Vic, Wellington.

I live in a one bedroom flat with my fiancé Andy. He’s currently still working – he works at Parliament. They’re doing shifts – two weeks on, two weeks off – and he’s about halfway through his time off. When he’s at work he sees Jacinda Ardern every day, it’s amazing. He’s so relaxed about it. I don’t get it, how could anyone not sprint home every day and say, ‘I saw Jacinda!?’ I mean he loves her, he’s just not star struck by anybody.

We’ve lived together in Wellington for four years. We met in London, Andy’s from London, then he moved over here four years ago and we’ve been in Mt Vic ever since.

Before all of this I was working at a beautiful homeware store doing displays, website, social media, retail. I was also working as an in-house graphic designer at the Wellington Club and doing a bit of freelance design on my days off. I went to adult ballet classes on Tuesday nights and I’d walk to and from work every day. Sometimes through the city, if I felt like seeing people, or sometimes round the waterfront. On a sunny day, I’d always choose the waterfront.

I had to do this thing for work the other day, well we both had to do this thing. I had to upload photos of some new products - a whole lot of beautiful cashmere scarves and hats and jumpers. We have a pool of people who usually model products, but because we’re in lockdown Andy and I had to be the models and take photos of each other. I was trying to plan it with him, like, ‘Maybe we could do it tonight after work? I’ve got the outfits ready …’ He said, ‘I do not want to think about this until it’s actually happening. Please can we not talk about this until we absolutely have to.’ We took the photos in our bedroom, it’s the biggest room in the house and it’s got a white wall. Our neighbours are quite close and on one side there’s a hostel – they could definitely see us taking turns to pose against the wall in scarves and beanies. I’ve had to crop out our carpet because it’s the most hideous blue. Andy somehow got through. We both did. It was pretty funny.

We’re currently both working in the lounge. I’m at the dining room table, Andy’s on the couch. We’re not really chatting throughout the day, it’s like we’re actually at work. We’re trying to do 9am-5pm. We’re not always strict about it, but we are trying to have that structure. We don’t have an after-work routine. Sometimes we walk. The other night we had a gin and tonic and watched Tiger King. It varies.

It’s not often we’d get dressed up and go out for dinner – sometimes we would – but we both love cooking at home so we haven’t really noticed restaurants and things being closed. Yet. God, I sound so antisocial, it’s just that we’ve always been happy doing our own thing in our own space.

Oh actually, one thing we’re doing is we’ve started a sourdough starter so we can make our own bread. We have to feed it for the next ten days. You mix equal parts flour and water in a jar, then feed it fresh flour and water each day. The word ‘feed’ makes it sound gross, but it’s not, I promise. Andy made marmalade too, from the oranges that grow on the tree outside our house. He’d frozen a whole lot when they were in season. It’s delicious. Can’t wait to have it on our sourdough.

I’m really enjoying the feeling of there being no rush and nowhere to be. I’m feeling really positive about people getting to slow down. Not everyone, but a lot of people. I’m someone who lives a pretty slow-paced life. Andy and I are very mellow about things – we’re not exactly out there hustling. There’s been this culture for a while where if you don’t have three side hustles you’re not really working, if you’re not running yourself into the ground then you’re not working hard enough. That’s never sat with me. There are so many seasons of Gilmore Girls, how does anyone have time to fit in a side hustle? I like that people are taking a step back and seeing it’s ok to just chill. At design school it was so intense – we were told we’d need to update our portfolios constantly, have a full-time job, have a side hustle (otherwise you won’t get the full time job), maintain your side hustle throughout to show you’re worthy of the full time job … I never got it. Why can’t you just have a job and then live your life outside of it?

There’s also a lot of climate stuff happening, which is pretty amazing. I don’t think it’s sustainable, but it’s interesting to see what can happen when we all slow down. People will start flying, travelling, driving – all that stuff – but we also get into habits and maybe people will think twice about taking their car to the supermarket after they’ve been walking during this time. I think we can see living proof that we can make a difference.

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