Christmas decorations in March? Self-isolaters share photos of their homes bedecked in festive lights as they try to ‘spread cheer’ in neighbourhoods locked-down because of coronavirus
- In a bid to cheer up homes during the coronavirus self-isolation period, people have been putting their Christmas lights back up around their homes
- The #lightsforlife hashtag is gathering momentum in the US with people sharing photos of their strings of colourful lights
- One fan of the movement said ‘Light is a powerful thing. It inspires, gives hope in darkness, figuratively and literally.’
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Creative self-isolaters have come up with a new way to spread a little cheer without leaving their homes – digging out their festive lights.
While bringing out the yuletide decorations in March might seem a little bizarre, the #lightsforlife movement is gathering momentum on social media, with lock-downers sharing their snaps of their twinkling homes.
One dad admitted that he’d fished out the string of lights to try and entertain his bored son while others said the sight of light in locked-down neighbourhoods offered a message of hope and inspiration to people feeling overwhelmed by the pandemic.
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The #lightsforlife hashtag is gathering momentum on social media, with one dad in Rhode Island, who’s self-isolating, putting up his festive lights to keep his ten-year-old son entertained
Mike Griffiths shared photos of his son looking out on a snowy tree in the family garden, saying it was helping to cheer the family up
Milwaukee broadcaster Lane Grindle wrote on Twitter earlier this week: ‘What if we all put our Christmas lights back up? Then we could get in the car and drive around and look at them. That seems like a fair social distancing activity.’
To his surprise, the #lightsforlife hashtag had already seen many people posting soul-boosting snaps of their homes.
Mike Griffin, aka @rhodyknowsbest, shared a photo of his son, ten, staring out of the window on a tree bedecked in colourful lights in a snowy garden at the family in Rhode Island.
Griffin wrote: ‘My youngest son was bored today and said, “can we put Christmas lights on our tree outside to cheer us up?” Great idea buddy. Lights are on tonight as a sign of hope and the sweet mind of my 10 year old.’
And St Patrick’s Day lights added to the #lightsforlife hashtag – despite the usual March 17th celebrations being severely dampened this year
One Twitter user described putting a string of lights around his tree as his #pandemicsurvivalplan
Another fan of the #lightsforlife idea, @rhodyknowsbest, put up a trail of colourful bulbs in her garden in Watson, Louisiana
Instagram, Nichola Files, in South Dakota, said that after moving into a new neighbourhood, putting lights up was a way to communicate in a friendly way with her new neighbours
The hashtag #lightsforlife has since started to garner more and more images of garlands of lights cheering up homes.
@quickbear, from Colorado, described the golden reel of lights strung around his tree at his home as his ‘survival plan’.
On Instagram, Nichola Files, in South Dakota said that as a new resident in her neighbourhood, putting a light tree up was a way of communicating with her neighbours.
She wrote: ‘I’m not the only one with no Christmas lights to turn on. Some houses around me are still being built and many are newly moved into, just like me.’
She added: ‘Light is a powerful thing. It inspires, gives hope in darkness, figuratively and literally.’