This Is Our New Reality

It’s a Sunday evening and you’re feeling restless. You are texting your friends, watching movies over your laptop and scrolling through your Instagram on phone. You are distracted, your attention is in ten different directions, yet there’s a voice calling you from behind. Voice: What are you distracting yourself from? You ignore. Scroll again. Click again.

Scroll. Text. Click. Refresh. Click. Scroll. Click. Text. That’s what you do all day. Isn’t it?

Wait a second. What’s happening? Is this our new normal?

The world has been a bit terrifying and unnerving lately. The pandemic has completely taken over the world. Social distancing and self-isolation is our new reality and let’s face it, it’s not very gratifying. Everyone is talking about it, the symptoms, who are more susceptible to getting it, the percentage of deaths in certain countries and globally, and how to prevent it from spreading. Our daily routine is a mess, and we suddenly feel caught up. We can’t do a lot of things that we did on a regular basis, and this somehow leaves us stressed out. I am sure you will agree to this that somehow staying indoors, reading, hearing, and talking about the pandemic all day long is affecting our mental health.

People with anxiety are having a difficult time dealing with things. Thankfully, I and my family are safe and healthy in our home. And, hope you’re too. But, is everyone safe? No, they’re not! Not everyone has the luxury most of us have.

I have isolated myself since 15th March. So it’s been more than three weeks of me being locked inside my home. Social distancing doesn’t feel weird to me as I’m always home. But, sometimes it gets frustrating as I am not used to being around everyone all day. And, I also understand that for someone, who meets a lot of people every day and goes out every single day for work or whatever reason, this is like, detox! But then, of course, this is stressing for them, as well as the people around them.

I don’t know if it’s anxiety or if it’s an empath thing, but it’s been a week since I have slept properly. It’s impossible to stop thinking about what’s happening right now. Yesterday, it was the first time, in a long time, that I really broke down and sobbed (And somewhere down there you may have been struggling to get through the day too). The next morning when I woke up, I noticed how puffy my eyes were, resulting from crying myself to sleep the night before.

I have been keeping up with the news just to hear that things are getting better. Though, I try to keep myself away from all this as much as possible by cutting off all that extra news which can trigger my anxiety.

But apart from the news about pandemic there are a lot of articles on domestic violence (According to the recent reports, there has been an alarming rise in the case of domestic violence). There are a lot of people still going out for nothing at all. A lot of people who can’t go to work but also aren’t able to work from home are concerned about how they’re going to pay for groceries and rent.

We all know that it’s difficult to stay home manage your work, school, college or even pursuing your passion while managing to not get affected by the virus and constantly fearing the health of your loved ones.

Though my work keeps me busy all day, there are days when it gets impossible for me to work too (there’s so much distraction). I listen to music and watch fashion or cooking videos as these perfectly work as a coping mechanism for me. But is this just about me? Every person who’s locked inside their homes or are still out for some reason are dealing with some sort of mental health problem. People are concerned about their mental health.

And with a chance of lockdown to be extended, there’s an added uncertainty about what will happen in the future, and that worries us.

How can one deal with their anxiety now that it’s at an all-time high? How can we, as a society, get all the hardheaded people inside their homes so this stops spreading? Will people ever see eye-to-eye on how we, as a country, should deal with healthcare especially in situations like this? There are a lot of questions on your mind with no trace of answers.

People need to understand that we are dealing with a pandemic and there’s no productivity challenge going on. However, there’s no harm in being productive but you don’t have to give in to the societal pressure, understand what your mind and your body is asking you to do. Understand that all we can do today is to take this opportunity to be in the present, to get courage, and resilience and to overcome this difficult situation. We just need to focus on what feels right at the moment. Shut all your social media platforms if you see a lot of content about this virus, Listen to music that makes you feel good, cook and eat good food, sit on your terrace and feel the breeze in your hair while making note of your breathing.

Despite how it looks right now, things will improve. Life will resume and we will be more appreciative of our freedom and our relationships. The next time we see our friends, it’s going to be extra special. We will treasure physical contact and presence. Activities that we once perceived to be small or just a part of our daily routines will never be taken for granted again.

Just remember we will get through this very soon!

Till then take care of yourself and your loved one.

Sending love and a big hug your way. ❤️