“Sometimes, self-care looks like immersing yourself in the act of doing nothing. Being quiet. Remaining still. Letting go of busy-ness and leaning deeper into rest.” –Minaa B.
As a self-professed introvert, I have weathered the ups and downs of the pandemic remarkably well. I have always been content at home, so the lockdown earlier this year wasn’t as much of a strain on me as it was for my more extraverted friends and family. What really took me by surprise, however, was the lack of motivation that had suddenly creeped up on me as the months wore on.
At the beginning of lockdown, Instagram and Facebook was flooded with images of new hobbies that people had taken up, or motivational posts about how lockdown is the perfect time to learn a new language or a new skill, and to become the best version of yourself. I would see these posts and wish that I too could use the lockdown as an opportunity for self-improvement.
However, between my part-time job and summer courses, I had very little motivation to do anything else, and unfortunately this feeling followed me back to Antigonish for the start of the new school year. With a blend of online and in-person classes, I found myself less motivated to keep up with my class work, and my productivity at an all-time low.
COVID-19 impacted all our lives in so many ways, but I was not prepared for this. I began asking my friends about how they were feeling, and quickly realized that I wasn’t the only one experiencing a lack of motivation or a decrease in productivity this year. I’m now starting to realize that maybe these feelings are not so much about motivation, but more about a reorientation of priorities.
The pandemic has forced me to reconsider what really matters in my life. This is not to say that academics are not important to me, they absolutely are, but I’ve come to the realization that grades are not worth sacrificing my mental and physical wellbeing. We are all living through an unprecedented time in our lives, and we owe it to ourselves to be more forgiving when we are not being as productive as we think we should be.
Life is too short to spend it worrying about whether we are doing enough. We are all enough, just as we are.