It's okay to do nothing. You're in the midst of a crisis.
The media has forever encouraged people to fit unrealistic expectations (especially women in particular). This lockdown period has demonstrated that even when confined to our homes, the media expects women to live “perfect” lives. One would think that such an event as that we are currently in, would encourage solidarity, yet we as a society continue to break each other down. In an already anxiety-inducing situation, women are experiencing increasing pressure to maintain this standard of “perfect”.
Many, including myself, have been experiencing high levels of guilt when not completing the vast number of tasks originally intended as a goal for the end of lockdown. The “hustle culture” of which the media endorses invariably, gives the impression that we as individuals should have learnt new languages, instruments and written novels during this period. All whilst completing daily home workout plans and maintaining a healthy diet. It has become so ingrained in society that any free time available to us should be filled with “productivity”, that anything which doesn’t contribute to self-improvement is viewed as invaluable by society, and therefore deemed worthless. This, however, is unrealistic in any given situation, let alone a global pandemic, yet it appears that this ideology is being pressed more than ever.
Having had my A-Level exams stripped away from me as a result of this pandemic, I was left feeling empty and unfulfilled. As a result, I set myself an unreasonable amount of goals for each day. This, however, gave rise to the feeling of being continuously overwhelmed and generally low-spirited. I decided to take a step back and assess my situation more rationally. I concluded that this mind-set I had become consumed by was extremely damaging for my mental health. I unfollowed all on social media that I believed to promote unhealthy ideals and instead invested my time supporting influencers that uplifted and encouraged you to better yourself for the right reasons – not to simply satisfy the masses.
Ultimately, lockdown is not intended to be a time to “hustle”, but a time which is concerned with keeping the population safe. If you can use this time effectively, then that is simply a bonus, not essential. In addition to this, don’t expect yourself to be 100% happy and level-headed, these are unfamiliar times and it’s likely to take a toll on our emotions from time-to-time. When in need of some positivity, or even some normality during this period, contact your friends and family (digitally) and take advantage of your one form of daily exercise as an opportunity to take a breath of fresh air.
Whilst it is easy to be cynical of the media, we must remember that developments in digital communication have brought the world together in an increasingly globalised context. Allowing individuals from all kinds of backgrounds to interact – sharing and relating their thoughts and feelings. ‘Bamby Collective’ is an example of this. Bringing women from all over the world onto one platform, where they can share the common experience of being a woman. This can be incredibly valuable in times such as that we are currently in, where our face-to-face communication is so limited.
