The Literary Chef On Being in Control
Lucindy reflects on how returning to the kitchen allows her to reclaim a sense of control.
I began to lose my sense of control sometime during Covid. Not in a single moment, but gradually—rules layered upon rules, until even everyday decisions felt fraught. Did I want to take a trip? Then I must comply. Did my friend want to visit her dying mother in the hospital? Then she had to qualify. How many times were you asked by medical personnel: Have you traveled internationally in the last 14 days? Have you been in close contact with someone suspected of having Covid-19? Do you have symptoms?
Every aspect of life—where I shopped, what I bought, who I visited, even which stores had toilet paper and hand sanitizer—was filtered through systems that dictated my actions. It was more than inconvenient; it was disorienting, even existentially unsettling. I was no longer in control.
