my new normal resolution

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospitality, and ruminations on consumerism, by Reilly Hodson. This week: why lockdown has me rethinking my priorities, and what I’m looking for when we can finally leave our houses again. If you enjoy clipboard, share it with your friends! You can also support my side hustle financially, by clicking the button below.

someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection

This will be the fourth straight clipboard that opens with some variation of the following, and it won’t be the last, I suspect.

Lockdown sucks.

It’s awesome to watch numbers come down every day (except yesterday) and feel like we’re going to do it, the thing lots of pundits said was impossible, and I obviously prefer a few weeks at home to worrying about catching a deadly disease every time I leave my house. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck, though.

One thing lockdown does, on top of reducing the risk of spread of respiratory disease, is give you time to think. With most everything outside your house taken away, and horizons for travel reduced to your neighbourhood, lockdown reveals a lot about the way your “normal” works. Or at least, it has for me.

I’ve realised a few things during this latest lockdown, as I have in each of the previous ones. The most stark has been just how much my mental health relies on spending money.

My personality, and in some ways this newsletter, is based on this idea that consumerism is a game that can be won, by buying the best pair of shoes or supporting the most worthy local business. When my ability to consume is taken away, I’m left wondering what my actual interests are, what’s performative, and what I just do to fill the hole that comes from a lack of true connection.

My background is, objectively, one of great privilege. I have very little to complain about, in terms of my material needs.

What I want to work on, though, is to build stronger connections in my life, with my friends, and with the land and world we live in.

I’ve just started reading the book How to Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell. The title sounds pretty self-helpy, and the book sort of is, but in a way that doesn’t grate on me. What it’s about, rather than actually doing nothing, is taking time to do things that would be considered “nothing” by the system we’re all living in. Something that doesn’t create monetary value, isn’t productive in the capitalist sense.

That means different things to different people, but for me, it means spending time with the people I care about, and engaging with the world outside of my screens. So, once we’re allowed to, I want to get out and about, to get drinks with mates, go for long walks in nature, swim in the sea in summer, maybe even try running again. To disengage from consumerism, every once in a while. I’ll keep shopping and spending my money, and thinking deeply about frivolous stuff, of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I just need to get better at taking a step back. The results, of course, remain to be seen, but I’m laying the groundwork.

I’d love to hear from you on this: what are you reconsidering this lockdown, and what will you change when we re-emerge? Equally, hit me up if you’d like to grab a drink sometime, and let me know your favourite long walks to take, because once I buy (lol) some shoes that can take me walking through the woods, I’m planning to do it a whole lot more often. Flick me an email, or get in touch on Instagram.

clips

• MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers’ queer love anthem ‘Silk Chiffon’ is the feel good pop music I need when the weather is bad and I’m stuck inside.

• Taskmaster NZ is undoubtedly one of the best pieces of local media I’ve consumed in recent years, and this article from Stewart Sowman-Lund at The Spinoff is a great explanation of why.

• Checks Downtown came out all guns blazing with its first drop of Spring Summer 21/22. I particularly love these green pleated pants and this summery graphic tee, now printed on Checks’ very good custom blanks.

• I enjoyed this at-home shoot from Ensemble, asking stylists to dress and photograph themselves.

• I’m outraged on behalf of these Savour Group employees that have been paid 3 hours’ worth of wages during lockdown despite typically working 25-30. Do better, hospitality industry, and maybe reconsider your next trip to Amano, everyone else.

• Fascinating read about why tennis players have such prevalent mental health issues.

• My partner made this focaccia this week and we ate the whole loaf between the two of us within 24 hours. Worth it. Hot tip: use a bit less flour, like 600g, for extra hydration of the dough.

• Book your damn vaccine, folks.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! After a few weeks of straight frivolous, content, I felt like getting a bit real here, hope you enjoyed it. If you enjoy clipboard, please share it with your friends, and consider buying a subscription if you have the means, it helps me out a lot! Massive shout out to my mother-out-of-law Natalie for subscribing last week. See you next Sunday!