COVID-19 coronavirus re-defines luxury

Six of the best: lockdown luxuries

Maybe we didn’t all define them as luxuries until experiencing restrictions on our lifestyles, but confinement compels us all to re-assess, right?
Which of these are you missing most? Click here to let us know!

Touch, companionship, friends/family gatherings

 (Detail from D&G Light Blue ad)

“I need sex,” exclaims a vibrantly energetic woman in her seventies, frustrated and dispirited by the enforced hiatus in her social life. “I don’t know how I’m going to cope, it feels as though the walls are closing in on me. How am I going to meet people? The online dating platforms are rubbish, I need to connect with someone physically.”

Fresh air/Nature

“Thank goodness this is happening in springtime, at least for us,” says a US-based businessman. “I cannot imagine how hard it would be if you couldn’t hear the birds and see the buds blossoming on the trees.”

Travel/freedom of movement

(Detail from Dept. for Transport, 'It's everyone’s journey')

We’re not even talking far-flung exotic destinations here. Some Londoners are even missing their commute, with this home-shot video recreating the Underground at rush hour in a bathroom. 

Choice...

...to be a couch potato, sure, sometimes. But also to be spontaneous, change our plans, act unpredictably in a world where even our emotions are being gauged for commercial value.

(Detail from Prada SS20 ad. Click here to see what she does with the orange)

Food & drink out

Does everything you cook taste fundamentally the same? One of the great joys in life for some of us is having food cooked for us. And it doesn't have to be by Gordon Ramsay (image below).

Quite apart from the recurring culinary magic – How did they do that? Omg, that tastes so good (or just of something)! Look how beautiful it is! – there’s the opportunity to disappear into your own inner world with a good book or simply check out fellow revellers.

Variety of surroundings

And that brings us to variety. If you’re not used to #WorkingFromHome, being in the same environment all day every day without even that annoying nob at work to vary the scene can come as a rude shock.

Zoom and Houseparty make it easy to stay in touch and there’s a world of entertainment online, but, but, but….

The most change-averse among us like variety.

(Detail from 'Alberto V' by Jenifer Carey)

Luxury to me is not about buying expensive things; it’s about living in a way where you appreciate things. Oscar de la Renta

You said it, Oscar.

ends

Keywords: COVID19 coronavirus, real luxuries, travel, freedom of movement, freedom of choice, best things in life