Since my last post on the Black Lives Matter movement, I have been unsure where to go from there. I have been wanting to write my next post but writing about my usual topics of food or my travels just didn’t seem right.
Even though I mainly write this blog as a form of enjoyment and a way to keep memories for myself, I think it is also a good tool to reflect on and remember significant moments in life and across the world, and 2020 certainly isn’t short of those.
Although my audience is a small one, like with everything we do, everything we say and everything we post online, we have a small influence to those on the other end of our actions. If I can make one other person reading my words smile, laugh, or learn something new, then that is definitely a positive. I really appreciated receiving messages on the back of my last post, from people saying my blog had made them think/ look into and take more action for the Black Lives Matter movement.
I would also like to use this blog as a way to educate myself. In the past, I have frequently been the type of person who would avoid watching the news as I would find it ‘too depressing’ or ‘too repetitive’. However, (probably to my mum’s delight), lockdown has helped me to switch on more to the world around me and actually start to care and see the importance of understanding everything going on in the world even if it doesn’t directly affect me.
With all this being said, for my next few blogs I am going to try to look at and write about things that I normally wouldn’t think about. However, for now, I’d just like to quickly reflect on the past 100 days of lockdown, highlighting a few of the most important things that I have taken away from this time.
1) Lockdown has helped draw attention to some very important things, but this can’t just be for lockdown.
As I have already mentioned this extra time at home has made me realise the importance of being aware of things going on around you, even if they don’t directly affect you personally.
In regards to things that towards the latter part of lockdown, have been circulating social media a lot, such as material regarding the Black Lives Matter movement, the crisis in Yemen and looking after your mental health, as important as these things are now, it is essential that these things continue to be as important when lockdown restrictions are eased and people slowly settle into a new normal way of life.
As posts on social media die down, I am going to put more effort into continuously having conversations with my family and friends, reading and watching videos regarding current affairs that give diverse opinions so that I see more than just what the news shows, and finding ways to incorporate this learning into my daily life.
As much as we can get into a habit of thinking that individually we can’t do much to change worldwide and historical problems, nevertheless even the smallest things that we do to try to help bring about change are more than nothing.
2) Time to yourself is so good for you.
At the start of lockdown, I was worried that I would struggle not being able to freely go out and see friends and that I would get sick of being at home a lot. I have always been the person who can’t say no to a plan, perhaps due to a fear of missing out, but also because I love being around other people and have always preferred to be socialising than to be on my own.
Being forced to spend the majority of my time at home has certainly come with down days and days where I greatly miss proper face to face human interaction with no restrictions. Lockdown, as I’m sure for everyone else, took some getting used to, and coming home from six months abroad spending almost all day every day with my friends, pretty much straight into lockdown was definitely a shock to the system.
However, as cringe as it may sound, I have spent some time in lockdown ticking things off that I have wanted to do for ages. I am so glad that I have finally taken time to myself and started this blog, as well as started selling cakes. These are both things that I have talked about for a while, but I have always put off for a busy social life or for a part time job that was more stressful than it was worth.
I have now got to the point where I am postponing meeting friends if I have a busy week, am feeling tired or just need some time to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I will definitely go back to being a social butterfly, but after lockdown, I will also try to make a more conscious effort to set aside some time to do things for myself/ to prioritise myself if I’m not 100% feeling up to socialising.
3) Routine and exercise help pass time and keep me motivated.
As I’m sure many of my friends and family already know, in the past month or so, I have grown a new love for Courtney Black and her workouts. I have always enjoyed working out and from the start of lockdown, I would always find time to fit it into a day, but Courtney’s workouts are amazing. Not only are they helping me physically but also knowing that I am doing them alongside 20 thousand or so other people keeps me so motivated.
I have tried to keep my days nice and busy. I try to have meals at similar times everyday and break up the time in between them so that getting work done throughout the day doesn’t seem as tedious. I will think of something that I’d like to get done/start after my online lessons, and then after lunch, I’ll try to move onto something else so that I don’t get tired and bored of doing the same thing all day.
No matter how busy I have been in a day or how tired I am from working out, my sleeping pattern continues to be strange during lockdown. Some nights I will get into bed at 10 and be asleep in minutes, and other nights I’ll be tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning. For those times that I can’t sleep, I have got into the habit of handwriting a diary/writing down any thoughts that I’ve had that week. This helps me relax and properly get ready to sleep, it lets me get out any stress that might be stopping me from sleeping and handwriting also stops me from going on my phone before falling asleep.
4) There is nothing wrong with having breaks from productivity.
With all of this being said, as good as routine and productivity are, it is also so normal to break this. Throughout lockdown, and especially this week, I have had moments of feeling very drained and when I can’t be bothered to do anything. I am not shy to give myself a pyjama day in front of the TV, eating my favourite foods.
The same applies to exercise. As much as I am enjoying workout, when I am too tired, or the workout is too intense I will happily give myself a break. Recently when following Courtney Black’s workouts, I have started setting myself my own goals within the workout. If she does 30 reps of exercise that I struggle with, I will set myself the challenge of doing 15 to start with, and then the more workouts I do and the stronger that I get, I then slowly increase it. The same applies with if I’m aching or tired during a workout, I will do slightly less so that I still feel good for doing it but am not pushing myself to the point of becoming run down.
5) My phone isn’t going to run away, I don’t need to be attached to it 24/7.
During lockdown, I have managed to reduce my screen time from an 8 hour per day average to a 2 hour per day average. Now, I don’t think screen time is that important as some days I use my phone a lot for my Chinese dictionary app or to watch workouts, however it definitely shows difference.
I have always been attached to my phone and would feel very bad if I didn’t instantly reply to messages. I think addressing this and trying my best to use my phone less has definitely helped me to be more productive.
I have started to give my full attention to things that I’m doing, instead of putting half my effort into it and half into looking at my phone screen. I think lockdown has highlighted the importance of simple things. It has been so nice to meet friends at parks and chat for hours, showing we don’t always need to make a lot of effort going for nice meals, dressing up etc, and that it is the company that is important.
So, well done if you have made it to the end of this rather Kylie Jenner post of me ‘realising’ things, feel free to let me know if you’ve had any important lockdown realisations. Lots of love xoxo