Ever thought of that dog, sipping coffee and going about his day, while the world burns around him? Isn’t that our collective spirit animal right for the past year?
The pandemic makes us feel like we are stuck in the same-day loop with no exit condition. Every day our hopes get bleaker and weaker. The devastating news of the country, family, friends, and acquaintances’ tragedies breaks us down. If our generation has ever come closer to an apocalypse, it’s this. Even the babies who hit fame on Instagram at the beginning of the pandemic seem so grown up.
NY Times has published an article for the feeling of ‘meh’ we have been experiencing and it’s called languishing. Seems obvious when all of us have been attending meetings in pajamas all day, every day for more than a year. The Google trend for the word “languish” has hit a peak in 2021, psychologists say it’s a state where you are neither flourishing nor depressed, clearly making it the mood for 2021. One can hardly tell days apart anymore with our lives becoming the epitome of monotony.
Everyone is dealing with the crisis in their own way. Be it denial, bingeing every show on Netflix, or tapping into the artistic side and letting the creative juices flow. Cooking and gardening are being taken up by many, dedicating their attention to anything but the panic-inducing news and stats.
Here are some things which might help you to find comfort, peace, and happiness when you feel down:
- Gratitude journal
Trust me on this, when you sit down to note the things you can be grateful for, the list is always bigger than you expected. We need that reminder of good things in times of despair. One always takes things for granted, this is the time to pause and reflect on them. Gratitude can be in the simplest of forms, like the new garden you created for yourself in the lockdown, rediscovering an old hobby, cooking the perfect cloud eggs, a steady income, your immunity, or the fact that you can live with and ensure the safety of your loved ones. Never a better time than present to stop and smell the roses(through the mask of course). - Cut yourself some slack
More often than not, when we feel low and unmotivated we get into the rush of getting productive and overachieving to compensate. With this extra time in our hands, we are putting immense pressure on ourselves to finish that hobby project, start that side hustle or write a book. With our day jobs and the toll on our mental health that the pandemic has taken, maybe our best, efficient, and creative selves are dormant presently. It’s important to listen to what your body has to say. Added pressure to perform better and check all your to-do lists may do more harm than good. - Pull your loved ones closer
The pandemic has made us realize what really matters and how! There was never a better time to catch up with old friends or rekindle the familial bonds. Families are getting to know each other like never before. Even if you are not staying with your family, the hour-long video calls certainly do help. Put in the extra effort, be it trying a recipe with your mom on a video call, hosting a Netflix party with your friends, or playing Geoguessr with your squad. Watching KVizzing with comedians with the family has become a new ritual in my household. Everybody needs some affection and love to be reassured of the good things. - Find rewarding hobbies
Discover what kind of hobbies give you joy. Activities that help you engage and get in the zone give immense pleasure. We often undermine how satisfying it can be to see our plants grow, make the perfect pasta, or write an article. Hobbies like reading, knitting, painting require patience and have a soothing effect on minds. Plantdemic is the new trend as many succumb to the craze of gardening in the pandemic. A highly recommended hobby to try out is drawing mandalas. They have a therapeutic effect which is much needed now. Focusing on tiny details and just getting in the flow state really gives a happiness boost. You can even get out your sketch pens and try your hand at coloring books for adults (yes, they exist). Make sure to have fun! - Stretch a little
Exercise is like a bubble bath for the brain (if you fetch water out of the well yourself). Covid has brought up the importance of health to all of us if it wasn’t clear enough before. Bodies need to be nourished and taken care of. Bad eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle do ultimately catch up with us and make us pay heftily. Exercise not only has physical benefits but is needed for overall well-being. To just pause and get in touch with your inner self, yoga is one of the best practices to try out. It also structures the day and gives a more routine approach to our days which otherwise have merged into one another with the only difference of changed pajamas. - Find your chicken soup
Wanna read Harry Potter for the millionth time? Wanna watch trashy reality TV and make fun of it? Wanna eat rajma chawal and gulab jamun every week? Maybe it’s sheet mask and F.R.I.E.N.D.S reruns, just embrace your little guilty pleasures.
Crawling back into our comfort bubbles isn’t a bad thing right now. Wholesome movies and endless cat/dog/baby videos are a real mood booster. Investing oneself in beautiful stories and feeling deeply about the characters is a great escape from reality. Crying over k-drama romance, when in reality you haven’t been on a date for over a year, somehow feels great. We are living vicariously through the protagonists who wander into the wild and survive, while we eat off of the crumbs on the living room sofa. Find things that bring you comfort and hold them close. Do it without feeling guilty and just know that things will get better soon.
Needless to say, it’s a really tough time for humanity. Lives lost, people fired, grief is all over, and humanity's ugly side is rearing its head high. Mental peace and health need to be protected. Here’s hoping for a near-future of coffee shop dates, movies in the theatre, trekking adventures, lots of hugs, and this gruesome time to be over. This too shall pass.
