SIMON MARTYN, Perugia, Italy at Elite
reflecting isolation
F WORD: How have you been dealing with the whole isolation thing?
SIMON MARTYN: I am actually enjoying this time of lockdown. I really wanted to have some time for myself, and, I know the circumstances could be better but, I am making the best of it. I wanted to have time off to myself since earlier this year so this happening right now for me is really regenerating and peaceful. I am just making the best of a bad situation.
F WORD: What have you been doing to occupy your time and mind?
SIMON MARTYN: Having a bit of forest behind my house I'm able to go tracking, truffle hunting and also go in search of asparagus. I finally had the time to begin exploring new creative paths, as in properly learning how to stitch and understand clothing in a more detailed way. I believe this certain time is a really good opportunity to regenerate ourselves and find true peace, so I decided to try breathing meditation exercises and everyday workouts with lots of stretching and free body exercises.
F WORD: How are you feeling about the COVID-19 pandemic?
SIMON MARTYN: Since no one really knows what it is, or where it came from, or how it works and who it will mainly affect; I simply prefer to accept this whole thing as a natural occurrence of life. A lot of people are dying from it, unfortunately, and our governments are already giving us the statistics and predictions for what they believe the final number of deaths will be; but yet, this is just another disease, just like cancer that is killing thousands of people per day or heart diseases and let's not talk about food and water starvation. If we really think about it, hunger and thirst in places like Africa have been affecting innocent lives throughout centuries. It makes me wonder about how the attention on African countries in need has never been as big as Convid-19. This pandemic is serious and we should take the right measures to defeat it but, at the end of the day, it is just another disease. I will say; stay home, be happy and find inner peace.
F WORD: What are your thoughts on how your government and the world is dealing with it?
SIMON MARTYN: I live in Italy and honestly, I have been very pleased to see how fast Italy's government reacted to all this. I believe we are a very messed up country, in many different aspects, which I'm not going to talk about right now but as soon as we had the confirmation of all this going down we immediately started full lockdown and severe quarantine trying to help out our elderly and less fortunate, providing goods in a healthy and safe way for everyone and being truly able to see who is Italy made out of, a true collective, helping one and the other. A true family!
F WORD: What would be your perfect soundtrack for this time?
SIMON MARTYN: In a time of complete mess, I would suggest some old school classical music to relax and enjoy the Spring weather from the window and some psychedelic trance techno just to keep the days active and bouncy. [Laughs]
F WORD: Can you suggest a movie/series/or book we should check out during isolation?
SIMON MARTYN: As my favourite is Rick and Morty in my free time I just love re-watching old episodes. But for the rest of the time, I enjoy letting my smaller brothers decide the movies they want to watch so that means a lot of cartoons and superhero movies.
F WORD: A Hopeful statement to encourage others:
SIMON MARTYN: Enjoy this time by yourself. Find the person you are without any of the conditions imposed by the outer world. Shut your mind, don't complain about being inside too much because, in the end, you are still living a wonderful life in peace and in health. Don't hate but accept.
F WORD: Favourite F-word
SIMON MARTYN: Family!
FOLLOW SIMON MARTYN ON INSTAGRAM
