Izzy Rhodes
Objects & acts of resilience

1. Sunsets

I’m from South East London and recently moved to West London. To be honest, I didn’t know smoggy London could produce such glorious colours in its skys, but the ones I’ve watched in my flat since Spring sprung this year have got my gawping on an almost daily basis. *normally* the flat is under the Heathrow flight path, but the recent lack of air travel has meant that this time of night now actually peaceful. I’m a sucker for the night sky and have always been an astronomy nerd, so I’ve been able to take a breather from the claustrophobic daytime activities of the 

2. My child (cat)

I’ve enjoyed spending (far too much) time annoying and staring at my cat, Peanut (who actually now thinks her name is Peahead because I’ve changed her nickname so many times she’s just given up). We brought her home in August last year from the RSPCA and she’s been tearing up the flat ever since – from curtains to shoes, she seems to have developed an appetite for anything and everything.

3. Clap for Carers

One of my best friends is a nurse in A&E in a hospital in London, and every Thursday I take delight in screaming from the balcony and banging my pans together for our amazing health and care workers. Peanut hates it and bolts under the bed every time. This is the view that I hang out the window to with our neighbours and the sunset colours really have given me a weird level of strength when my cabin-fever is on an absolute rampage.

4. Attempting yoga

Although this image looks like I’m channelling Freddy Mercury or ABBA, I’ve actually been finding yoga and mindfulness to be one of the easiest ways to shift my mindset if I need to. I can’t say I’m very good at yoga, or have become any stronger or more flexible (so I definitely have my Zoom camera off when the classes are live) but I’ve had loads of fun attempting handstands and thudding around the flat – much to my boyfriend’s annoyance.

5. Running and nature

I’ve been a runner for around 7 years and have gone through phases of falling in and out of fondness with it. I used to use running as a form of escapism, but it’s actually been quite stressful trying to navigate people on the pavements at a top speed of maybe 6mph if I’m feeling bouncy. So when I can haul myself out of bed early enough to grab some quiet time on the roads it’s just the calmest experience in the world. So calm, that to be honest, I just end up stopping and staring at the trees and the pigeons for longer than I am running.