I am craving a form of escapism. Pre-Covid, we lived with so much excess that it was exhausting for me and a lot of the people I knew. Consequently, in some ways, the pandemic felt like a blessing. Less commuting and fewer of the generally unnecessary frills made me personally feel settled. I found myself able to live in the present, observing and appreciating it in ways that I haven’t before.
Therefore, I now feel guilty to say I want to indulge in a holiday; it seems unethical to not be content in these times. It is almost like a betrayal of myself to not be satisfied with my own shadow.
It is for this reason that I believe most offices will not migrate to strictly working from home and all the things we believe will disappear instantly, will not completely vanish. If anything, they might become new desires.
We are not meant to survive alone. It is bad for the psyche. Samantha Brooks and Rebecca Webster, doctors from King’s College, London, have concluded from a study that after 10 days in isolation, our mental health starts to suffer. From day 11, stress, nervousness, and anxiety arise and thus, if a restriction of more than 15 days is imposed, the effects would be much more complex and difficult to manage for most people.
There is satisfaction to be had now in the things and places we once dreaded. A friend joked recently that she had forgotten how to walk in heels. It seemed funny at the time, but if I am to be honest, I can’t remember either.
Even as we become accustomed to a new norm, there are parts of our lives we cannot escape. Perhaps this is the basis of that longing to go back to old times. According to NPD, 10% of people still get dressed to work from home, while most tend to keep a ‘Zoom Shirt’ nearby. The Urban Dictionary says a ‘Zoom Shirt’ is a shirt or blouse that is kept at the back of your chair to help you to quickly appear presentable for video calls. A recent poll by LinkedIn found that 42% of camera-ready home workers owned one.
Despite being stagnated, changes of routines and outlook are needed to help us discern how much we work so that the line doesn’t get blurry. You should not feel like you are involved in a continuous cycle.
The difference between pre-lockdown and a semi-opened country is that you had freedom of choice, no matter how overwhelming those choices were. We always knew where and how to find escapism after a burn out.
Perhaps the lesson to be learnt here is that even though things are slowly going back to normal in some places and we had developed habits for things we now consider an indulgence, it is important to reflect on how exhausted we felt before so that we do not abuse them. More importantly, we should try not to get ourselves to the point where we are overly saturated with excess. As we long to reconnect with old doings, I hope this ability to be more present never leaves.
