What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
Everyone has been reaching out to loved ones, near or far, to check in on each other, and this habit can enrich your lives far beyond isolation.
In unique and pressurized circumstances, it's important to pay attention to the gems that come out on the other side. Most of us are experiencing our first social isolation to slow the spread of coronavirus, and while it seems like a small undertaking to just stay home, it comes with many challenges that are going to push us to exist in ways much different to before. You might not even have noticed all the positive changes happening in your life right now!
Click through to see some of the greatest lessons we should take away from this strange, difficult, and enlightening experience.
Food waste is a huge environmental problem and an economic problem as well. Now that you’ve learned to buy the essentials and use up everything you’ve got, continuing this practice will have an enormous impact for you and the world.
Instead of filling up your schedule and distracting yourself, you’re forced to sit down with your emotions and respect them.
The main reason for isolation is to slow the spread so that vulnerable people, especially the elderly, the poor, those with health problems, and young children, can make it past this pandemic. This level of compassion is certainly something we can benefit from in the future.
We’re all getting the opportunity to exercise our cooking skills, or develop nonexistent ones, and keeping it up will save you money and help you eat healthier!
Kids these days are saturated with devices and entertainment, but that can hinder their ability to access their natural creativity. Isolation has been proven to increase creativity, and that’s a trait that will come in handy for the rest of their lives.
During isolation you probably rely heavily on books, music, movies, games, and TV shows—all of which are art! Out of isolation, we should emphasize the importance of these fields.
With all this time we can finally start giving our bodies what they need, whether that’s skin-care or time to reflect on our thoughts with journaling.
As a matter of self-preservation in these dire times, we’re forced to put away the constant stream of information to maintain our sanity. This practice is helpful to keep as the news has been proven to inflict negative mental consequences like depression and anxiety.
As an observer, when you see someone by themselves—in a restaurant, at a park, or at the movies—you might instinctively assume they are lonely and that they’d like company. But after spending time alone, you’ll realize that this is often far from the truth, and maybe you’d like to do the same!
It’s all too easy in the age of social media and competitive work environments to search for your own value in the external validation of others, but with a pandemic in the world “likes” inevitably lose their value, which is necessary to living a genuinely happy life.
Removed from the endless small talk, niceties, and forced friendliness, it’s soon obvious that what matters is not the number of people you interact with, but the quality of those interactions. Your relationships will all benefit greatly from this!
From nurses and doctors on the front lines, to janitors, cooks, and sanitation workers behind the scenes, it’s all the people who couldn’t stay home to help the world keep functioning (and who deserve proper pay and working conditions).
Cut off from the shortcuts, you’ll have to figure out most things for yourself, and learning to be independent is deeply empowering.
Only when you pull yourself away from something can you fully appreciate how strong your attachment to it is. It can be a person or a thing, and identifying any feelings of unhealthy attachments will help you move forward and rely less on them.
When you’re removed from social situations, distractions, and other people’s energy, you distill the person you actually are. Keeping some time for yourself in the future will strengthen your feeling of self and make you more confident, secure, and happier.
Nearly everyone is being hit financially by the pandemic, and we’re forced to budget better. This is a skill many of us learn too late, but best to take advantage of this learning opportunity now!
Many of us are glued to our phones and receiving updates from all kinds of people and sources, but in crazy times like these there are equally crazy updates with absolutely no substantial research or evidence behind them. Learning how to tell real from fake news will stop your future panic before it happens.
People all around the world are in isolation trying to do their part not only for their community, but for the world at large, as the new coronavirus has shown us that we must all band together to tackle future global challenges, like climate change.
Every day in isolation there are various things we can be grateful for, including the very ability to isolate, our health, our loved ones, and so much more. Gratitude will boost the quality of your life instantly.
It’s clear that many people were not familiar with the effective way of handwashing or coughing/sneezing into the inside of their elbow, but post-quarantine hopefully this will mean the slower spread of even the common cold.
While these are unique circumstances, a lot of companies are realizing that they’re able to continue functioning with employees working at home, thus creating less pollution and opening up the possibility to continue this after isolation.
See also: Essential tips to becoming an effective remote worker.
Whether it’s makeup, extra clothes, small talk with people you don’t actually like, a gym membership, or anything superfluous you thought you needed.
Spending time in isolation with others will quickly show you that you have to be taking care of yourself in order to take care of others, or else you’ll quickly go mad. If alone entirely, you’ll see that prioritizing yourself once in a while won’t actually ruin your social life.
This virus has shown us yet again that at our root we are all human, all vulnerable, and all in need of support. We must put politics aside when it comes to our basic rights and needs.
Funny videos and memes about isolation allow us to feel seen by people around the world, and they’re a necessary and hilarious release of emotion that are key to surviving absolutely anything in life.
The best lessons we can learn from isolation
This quarantine might actually be just what we needed
LIFESTYLE Quarantine
In unique and pressurized circumstances, it's important to pay attention to the gems that come out on the other side. Most of us are experiencing our first social isolation to slow the spread of coronavirus, and while it seems like a small undertaking to just stay home, it comes with many challenges that are going to push us to exist in ways much different to before. You might not even have noticed all the positive changes happening in your life right now!
Click through to see some of the greatest lessons we should take away from this strange, difficult, and enlightening experience.