The Four Per Cent

“Throw it all at me. Take everything you can. Even in the end I will not be defeated.”

How much would you give up to never return to your darkest moment?

Your livelihood?

Your house?

Your business?

Your friends?

Your self-worth?

Melbourne’s record-breaking 262-day-lockdown should have been a collective experience shared by residents of the city. However, Government directives in those final months forced friends and families against one another in a debate over who was worthy of freedom.

Four per cent of that population have a story to tell – one that has never been heard.

This is the story of Melbourne’s lockdown, told from the inside by someone left on the outside.

Author Biography

Lauren Smith is a mindfulness coach, and a Pilates and yoga instructor who first made a career in Melbourne’s television industry. She left the fast-paced lifestyle behind when diagnosed with an incurable cranial nerve disorder. Since then, Lauren has survived brain surgery, rehabbed herself from a spinal injury, and lived through Melbourne’s Covid lockdown. Her experiences have led her to advocate for balancing physical and mental wellbeing by learning to tune into your own body. Lauren now teaches others to rest and recover as much as they push the edges of their comfort zone, and to choose language that helps them communicate and process their feelings effectively with themselves and others. These days, you will find Lauren on the beaches and in the Muay Thai studios of Thailand; or travelling to the next exotic destination, eager to meet the locals and expats and listen to their stories.