Tags
care, cat lover, health issues, hobbies, human warmth, love found, love is a two-way street, ordinary, post-pandemic, post-pandemic consequences, priorities, routines, slow living, wellbeing
It’s been a second, friends. Not by choice, yet not by force, it just happened this way.
What have I been doing all this time, you ask? I wish I could tell you stories about wild adventures and one of a kind experiences, but I’ve been living in the same post-pandemic world as everyone else. Instead of joy blooming along with the trees, last spring was dotted with worries of war right next door. Then summer slammed into my brain with a heat more vicious than I ever experienced in my now close to 37 years of living. I’d been hoping for our very own roaring twenties, effervescence and glamour infusing our actions and our attitude; alas! there was only a pervasive sense of dullness and forced gayness of spirit. On the other hand, it may well be the awkward one was me – on account of years of social distancing or of simply getting older, I couldn’t muster up the energy to join the parties, the concerts, the festivals with the enthusiasm I’d imagined.
Autumn and the semblance of a winter season sneaked into the city and my life, bringing along bounty of health issues of the kind I hadn’t imagined I would experience so soon in life. Loss of mobility, though partial and temporary, is a hit to your self confidence even in the most stable and energetic of times, so for me it was a brutal awakening to the truth of needing to give the right importance to health, else other demands of life will be meaningless.
But the year was not all bleak and boring. I found the person who wants to care for me even when I can barely move my arm because of damaged shoulder tendons, or when I’m loopy with fever during covid. The one who’ll tell me I’m beautiful even when I’m barely woken up and haven’t washed my face yet. The one who runs out to buy me chocolate when he sees I’m low on energy and have a trying day ahead of me. The one I can laugh with about the silliest things and have serious debates with about the most niche topics. The one who’ll just sit with me on the couch and read in silence, with our orange tabby curled up next to us, and he’ll find that perfect.
This year, I’m giving myself permission to start slow and to listen to what my body and my mood are telling me. I’m working on stabilizing all the areas of my life which subtly fell away from me in disarray since the covid lockdown began. I’m toiling away at finding the routines that help me, because contrary to what pop culture and society nowadays is shouting at us – being no that much out of the ordinary, having hobbies we don’t especially excel at, having a moderately-paced walk in the mornings when the sunlight is just starting to shine above the horizon, taking the time to cook dinner from scratch and having a quiet evening in are all satisfying and fulfilling in their own right.