Hey Corona.... please leave!
What a crazy time to be alive. When we leave the house we wear masks and gloves and always make sure that we have our hand sanitizer near. A time when leaving the house means its time to go grocery shopping, get your medicine from the pharmacy or something similar to the common things that we have all been doing for what feels like forever #IWantToParty. And for some of us, it even means spraying our groceries when we get home…. My anxiety is acting up, okay!
It feels like we’re living in a crazy documentary. The things around us normally only seen in a movie. Where we are left with a lot less to do with our time and it feels like the mind never stops running. It kind of becomes an internal battle. With all this ‘time’ on our hands, we think we should be getting all the things done that we ‘didn’t have time for’ before, or would be too exhausted to do, after a hard day’s work. But we now find ourselves not having the motivation or the energy to do these things and we end up getting frustrated with ourselves, it becomes an internal struggle and for many that creates a significant amount of anxiety.
Like a car needs petrol, I need my friends. Zoom and facetime are great and all and don’t get me wrong I am beyond grateful for technology but these technologies do not allow us to really look into each other’s eyes, to feel someone’s vibe, to simply be in their presence. Silences feel long and often awkward, body language does not exist and when it comes to tone of voice well, its a total guessing game. I think we so often forget that we talk with so much more than just our voices. It’s our hand gestures, someone’s eyes dilating that really brings their words to life. And so we are left feeling sad and often lonely.
Happiness looks different these days. It’s about getting that twelfth cup of tea tasting JUST right, the duvet going in easily when changing the linen, the new brownies you baked that came out crispy on the outside and mushy and gooey on the inside, that puzzle that you finally got that last piece of, when your favourite Netflix series has a really great episode with a really beautiful ending or even those few hours or days if you are really lucky where the house actually feels clean.
All of this is taking a huge strain on our mental health. Sometimes I feel like I never stop thinking. Life now lacks so many things that help me ‘get out of my head’. So often I have a mind full rather than being mindful. I’ve learned to take it day by day and hour by hour, reminding myself that breakdowns are so often breakthroughs. Like a seed, you have to break down before you can break through. So I try to breathe a little deeper, be more loving to myself and others and just do whatever I need to survive this.
Through it all though, one thing that has ensured I have had a smile on my face is the kindness that is so apparent. This person telling us about this charity, the messages from people checking in, the sandwiches that are being made for the less fortunate, the big tip for the car guard because we acknowledge he has a family too and just the general abundance of good deeds all around us. Kindness makes the world go round, kindness to ourselves and others.
And as damn hard as this pandemic is, it’s teaching us really important and often hard lessons like letting go, slowing down and being grateful! How lucky is one to be in a position where they are able to give? I challenge you to really bring gratitude into your space. Make time each day where you reflect on things you are grateful for, from the fact that we have socks and shoes to wear to a geyser with hot water to having food in our fridges and a choice of food too.
To end let me say this. Lockdown is really hard, we miss our people, we miss being busy and we really miss having things to look forward to. Having said that (Im’ma hit you with some cliches)... ‘This too shall pass’ and ‘everything will be okay in the end’. We are constantly changing and so is the world around us, but it IS going to be okay. Keep your head up, keep your heart open and most importantly keep your faith.
