Monday 27-04-2020 - 12:00

Pearl Tshimbalanga tells her stay home story.

I don’t know about you but I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions – intense planning only gives me anxiety. I’ve just always believed resolutions were a way of setting yourself up for failure. However, for 2020 I did give myself two goals, learn how to drive, and go the year without social media.

While lockdown has stopped my first goal in its tracks, it has given me a new perspective on my decision to give up social media.

Having social media, I felt a pressure to compete with the world, that being academically, financially, spiritually even (since everyone suddenly seems to meditate every morning now, right). The point is, I never felt like I did enough, and therefore felt like I wasn’t enough. So, when I came to university, I tried to keep up with my studies, I started working, I searched for volunteering opportunities and all this was extremely overwhelming. Once I deleted my social media, I realised that the “grind” culture we have isn’t exactly healthy. It is amazing how intelligent and independent our generation is, but the pressure we put on ourselves can be isolating and contribute to struggles with our mental health. 

Since we entered lockdown, I’ve realised that this pandemic kind of coincides with my social media detox, as it’s forced us to detox both physically and emotionally. Even though you can still see what everyone is doing online, there are limits to what everyone can achieve. We are being forced to stop and take a break, so ultimately the competition has subsided, a little. Instead of comparing, we must stop and sit with ourselves.

This period of time has been filled with a lot of fear, and a lot of uncertainty amongst us as a society; uncertainty of the world around us, our future, each other and ourselves. During this time, I’ve found that our generation struggles a lot with identity. We often attach our identity to what we’re doing, our academic achievements, and how many followers we have. This makes it more difficult to deal with the fact that our productivity is currently being stunted.

Life before had been so fast and (ironically) isolating, but somehow being forced into confinement has brought the world together. Personally, I believe it has reminded us of the treasures we hold before us, it has brought back some of our sanity, reminding us that we are loved and appreciated by forcing us to interact with our loved ones, those whose opinions actually matter. The world, for this moment in time, can no longer define you and you are forced to rebuild your definition of self. When our current situation lifts, I hope this means we will be released as a healthier nation.

I suggest you take advantage of this opportunity to rest. There’s no “perfect” way to handle a pandemic – this situation is foreign to all of us, everyone is just exploring different strategies to cope with it. So, rest might not mean doing nothing in your PJs, but take your time with revision, make that business plan, reassess that internship you applied for. All your plans will be waiting for you when you get back. The moral here is breathe, rest is vital to all success.

It’s ironic how everyone said 2020 would be their year. It really is. Because it has become the year that you, your physical and mental health, are the priority. I know you probably didn’t mean it like that, but I guess we’ll just have to take what we can get this year.

Praying for strength and health for all of you and your families, stay safe.

If you've been inspired to tell the ups and downs of your own Stay Home Story, take a look at how to submit yours here.

 

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