Moment of pause to slow life down

Before the pandemic, life flew by.

Events, get togethers, dinners out, birthdays and lots of celebrations.

All of this on top of the regular routine of a full time job and totally trying to adult. 

But that was life, and something we all took for granted. You don’t realize how connected we all were to everyone around us. 

It was very overwhelming for a lot of people to adjust from that busy lifestyle. Losing the connection of people closest to us and being forced to isolate for months with the people you live with was a drastic adjustment.

I personally lived alone, and somehow managed to resort to allowing my creativity lead the way. 

I read articles on the struggles people were having coping being alone and isolated. We’re humans. We need contact. We’re social beings. 

Most of us turned to social media and finding connecting through that. But, with all the negativity surrounding the world, even the social platforms were draining.

I tried to look at things from a different perspective; to see what we’re able to gain from this forced isolation. Sure boredom can get the best of us. But, what is it really that’s so scary about being alone?

Humans are social creatures. We have food together, play sports, gather together for occasions, or cuddle in and have low key nights with our friends or family. Whatever it is we did to socialize, the pandemic took that choice away from us. And being forced to be alone, or to isolate with people for months easily drove the best of us to a scary mindset.

I say it can be scary, because it’s often the thoughts we have within ourselves that perhaps we don’t like to often think about.
I found myself on TikTok constantly entertaining myself.

And I came across this video which summed up why most of us are scared to be alone.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMey4WC1C/

Not many of us embrace feelings and don’t like how it can consume you.
So we often stay busy.

I would usually have multiple jobs, and such a busy social life that I loved being on the go. I thrived from it. But being forced to isolate, living alone put me in a different mindset. 

Realizing that when I push myself to constantly be busy is a trauma response of fear-based distraction. It’s often more scary to acknowledge the thoughts and feels I would have if I was alone, to my own thoughts and company. 

I love being around people, and will always still be a social creature. But I’ve really grasped the value of my time and how I choose to spend it. 

Not many people have had the opportunity to really self reflect on their behaviours, and how their actions affect others. Reflection is essential to growing and just bettering yourself. And that’s what I used the time alone to do.

I’ll continually learn and reflect, but the forced isolation really pushed me out of my comfort zone to just be more comfortable with my own company, and how I choose to spend my time. 

So if you can try and take away anything from a year of uncertainty and isolation, is that it forced us all to slow down. We’ve been given the time to allow ourselves to reflect, and slow down our actions and be more intentional with what we do and who we spend it with. 

This time we have been given, is a blessing to allow us all to heal. Heal from childhood trauma, relationship trauma, and anything else that you have buried deep inside cause you had life to keep you busy. But with the pandemic slowing you down, this was the time for you to heal. 

Working on yourself is the greatest investment you can make.

This isn’t for your partner, your kids, your family or friends. Taking time to heal and work on you, is just for you! 

When you take time to heal what’s inside, everything else flows better and helps those around you.

But it starts with you. So give yourself the time to forgive yourself, heal, and reflect on how far you have come! 

 Desiree