It’s Friday morning, I’m writing from my desk in our guest bedroom turned shared office space. The days keep passing and here I am - HAHA. If you’ve considered the possibility that quarantine might be making you slightly crazy, I have an observation to share with you…
On one of my walks this week, I passed very few people. One of these people was an older woman who was singing quite loudly and also waving at strangers. I think maybe she was singing Michael Jackson, but now I’m not really sure if I’ve made that up in my head (I’ll blame this on quarantine too). I brushed off her theatrics as “the regular weirdos need to go outside sometimes too”. But then, the next person I passed, a man, was also by himself and singing - not humming, full on singing. I believe I’ve seen more bikers singing to themselves as well. Our house is on a road with a bike path, so I’m an expert on anecdotal cyclist behaviour you see…
So, why are they all singing? I thought about my own habit of making up ridiculous songs in the kitchen when I’ve been away from social situations for too long (much to the chagrin of my partner), and figured this must just be a thing we do. I read an article that said singing alleviates stress and depression, which didn’t surprise me at all. But then, I came across another claim that singing can increase antibodies and thereby boost your immune system. Thanks, Huffpost. If I ever become an anti-vaxxer, catch me tweeting to my 22 followers about how the cure is singing.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea918a34-c1c3-421c-b5ac-c126eca40d56_720x720.jpeg)
I’d like to share this photo I received in an email from my grandmother. “The Anemones are my favorite flowers, they grow wild in Greece.”
I hope you are all well, staying connected with family (or chosen family), and maybe singing from time to time. As always, you’re welcome to reply to this email or leave me a comment on Substack.
Emma
Hi Emma! Thank you so much for this, those flowers are really beautiful and tonight it's definitely going to be a karaoke night!