Here’s the thing.
The world will tell you that it’s okay to take a break- it’s okay to not achieve anything during this pandemic and all that other stuff, guess what?
There’s a difference between what should and what is.
I think the more there has been a move towards some level of vulnerability and transparency, what we lose is the honesty that as much as we may want to exist in ideal versions of events, real life will always win.
Real life measures you and judges you off your productivity. You have to care about yourself enough to not let those judgments define you but you cannot pretend they don’t exist. I have tried to live in the idea that being me exactly how I want to be doesn’t come with consequences, but it does.
If all your self care does is makes it harder for you to return to a real life, is it self care?
And I don’t say this as tough love. This is not me yelling at you to not spend the whole day in bed. You can if you want to. This is about weighing up all the information available and doing what works best for you. Your life is not a meme or an Instagram post. Truth doesn’t fit neatly in 280 characters. It’s messier and more complex than that. You know that. Therefore, you know that this time isn’t just going to exist and disappear.
I’m inspired to write this because I have seen one too many judgments of people still maintaining fitness or work routines. I have to admit, at the start I was in that camp, reposting images of “it’s okay if you don’t write a bestseller” etc. I still agree that you don’t have to write a bestseller, because for most people that would still be a privilege to do at a time like this, because people are still having to work, to parent, to care for family members. Domestic abuse is on the rise, people are losing their jobs and there’s a lot of people dealing with quite hefty consequences of this pandemic. Working out, or doing a hobby you like, or writing, or cooking or doing a course you’ve been wanting to do, those are privileged things. Do them if you can. If cooking more at home means you’re able to eat less processed food, this is a great time. I think sometimes, we are so conditioned to think that anything productive is automatically bad. What is bad is feeling like your life doesn’t have value beyond pointless productivity and maybe this is the time for you to be productive in ways that you can define for yourself, in ways that aren’t tied to making money.
It’s okay to do what works for you.