Knowing our boundaries and limitations in life has always allowed us the freedom to plan and thrive within them. Highlighting life's possibilities, regulations have helped guide us forwards.
In rural Victoria in August 2020 though, the borders of our lives are all over the shop.
In many aspects of our lives, the edges have gone either very blurry or abruptly rock hard, causing countless individuals to feel unsettled and misunderstood.
State borders are suddenly "hard". This means lots of farmers who haven't needed to worry about a line on a map before, unexpectedly have paddocks of livestock and crops inaccessible without a whole lot of drama, because they are over the border.
Businesses needing equipment from interstate cannot acquire it, as salespeople rack their brains and exhaust technicalities to provide a service when an invisible line is now a major player.
Agricultural contractors whose bread and butter comes from working their way across three states, are frozen in a sea of frustration without being able to move machinery or manpower, no matter how willing they are to abide by any new rules distant strangers apply to their lives.
Those with ill-health who have been just holding on until they can get access to their interstate specialist for a hip replacement or dental surgery, find themselves in unrelenting pain with no end in sight.
In my home, I'm in a whole other world of pain.
With three teenagers undertaking their secondary subjects from home, distinct mealtimes and bedtimes seem to have been moved on, nothing to see here folks.
Days blur into weeks and routines have been swept away. Lines have become fuzzy, smudged and muddled all over the place.
Days blur into weeks and routines have been swept away. Lines have become fuzzy, smudged and muddled all over the place.
When your school day is spent at the kitchen bench, it's pretty tempting to absentmindedly find yourself swinging off the fridge door just gazing in at the eggs, cheese and leftover pie instead of doing percentages.
When you don't have to travel to school or use the hair straightener in the morning, it's tempting to stay up late at night watching more and more mindless stuff on screens.
While I'm wrangling a few rules back into place at my house, many things will never acknowledge borders, so let's continue to ensure compassionate understanding is one of them.
Yolande Grosser
