Unbelievable day on planet Earth. We’re waking up to the US election hanging in the air, the threat of another four years of Trump is still real, UK terror level is raised to “severe” and national lockdown is commencing here tomorrow.
Wow, just wow. Let’s just acknowledge that this day is quite remarkable in terms of the mental pressure we’re put under, and if you’re feeling stressed and anxious, the last person you should blame is yourself.
And as always, women carry a heavy burden looking after everyone, making sure there’s food in the fridge, kids get safe to school, ensuring relatives have what they need, that face masks are clean, there’s soap in the house and that we’ve also gone to the hair dresser in time (now that we had three days to prepare), got the shellac off the nails, and stocked up on toilet rolls. We’ve learnt so much!
Now is not necessarily the time to “Stay Strong and Be Brave”, I don’t believe in that at all. It could be that what you need for yourself, is a break and just increased duvet time. That’s absolutely fine. You’ll look back at this time and be happy you just got through it and no one will ask what you achieved this month.
We tell people to “look after yourself”, but often our environment (partner, family, children, colleagues) don’t actually appreciate that you’re increasing your me-time. If you’re struggling with this, then I urge you to ask them if they want you to function? Do they really want your best? Do they want you to be looked after so you can look after them?
Also, be kind to other people. Send a message of support. Watch out when your friends go quiet. Always come from kindness, the last thing we need right now is negativity, sarcasm and reproach.
So grabbing what we learnt from last lockdown, I’d just like to say:
- Stay kind – in person, online, and to yourself
- Don’t feed into the negativity online
- Stay away from any information you don’t actually know where it’s coming from
- Always question your social media posts – what good will this actually do to my friends? Do I want to scare them, calm them or make them laugh?
- Give yourself a break
- Breathe. Really breathe, in a calm way, focussing inside.
I’m brining in some beautiful people to this page throughout lockdown to share their knowledge and give you some support, so stay tuned!
Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday.
Mi x
Mi x