Hello All,
“How’s your isolation going?” a question I’m hearing ALL the time, and quite frankly, it’s not going as well as it could be for me. I don’t know about you but I’m being inundated with people’s home workouts, creative exploits and exceptional business accomplishments. I’m not doing badly per se (or at least not this week), I’m just really lacking the motivation to do much at all. I feel a little bit like my couch is made of quicksand whilst trying to remind myself that it’s ok to feel like that. If you’re one of the people who is coping exceptionally well then: hat’s off to you, I honestly don’t know where all your up-and-go comes from! But, if you’re a bit like me and feeling like you’re more surviving than thriving then this is just your weekly reminder that it’s totally fine to wear the same pyjamas or tracksuit for days at a time (just please make sure you put fresh underwear on).
This is a bit of a rubbish time, and speaking of rubbish, it’s a really difficult time to be zero waste too! If you’ve found it harder to source your fridge and pantry staples plastic free as easily as you would’ve a month ago, then don’t beat yourself up about it! I’ve resorted to some old guilty pleasures of late too, in the interest of transparency I’m going to share them with you: my cheese consumption has gone from almost nil (my diet is 90% vegan) to allowing myself some every few meals (if the only way you can feel calm is to eat the things you crave then do it), I even bought some plastic covered treats for easter. Ok, so I’m not filling the fridge and pantry with packaging, but any plastic packaging feels like a big step back for me, a lesson in how to be gentle with oneself.
- Accept it’s ok not to be your ultimate self during a global pandemic. It’s important to note that we’re all different and different people deal with stress in different ways, you simply cannot compare your experience to someone else’s.
- Allow yourself to feel whatever emotion you’re currently feeling (even if it feels childish or icky).
- Challenge yourself to be a little bit better tomorrow, there is always tomorrow.
I don’t mean challenge yourself to go from couch potato to long distance runner in a day, I mean some days get up and put real clothes on if you didn’t the day before, maybe eat healthier tomorrow, and if you feel you can then get some sun on your face OR exercise. Afterall the reason exercise is still allowed is because it’s SO good for your mental health, and with the lack of human connection, exercise and being in nature have a big void to fill.
What I am excited to share is the one big positive I’ve managed in all of this. A couple of weeks ago I had an idea to help the NHS and the environment in one. With the help of some other friendly people I’ve designed a cotton tote bag enblazened with ‘Thank You to our NHS heroes” on the side. I’d been feeling a bit glum about the extra consumption, packaging and panic (or boredom) purchasing which has been happening and thought it would be a great idea to combine helping the environment with helping our NHS. If you’d like to purchase the bag you can do here. All profits will be going directly to help our NHS and it’s incredible workers who are serving us all so selflessly.
If you don’t need a bag you can still donate if you have the means. The bags themselves are lovely- long handles so you can throw them over your shoulder, they hold a lot (which is great for all those bulk purchases) and made by a UK company (so filtering money back into the economy when we need it most). Plus, they’ll be printed and sent in batches, so there won’t be any waste.
Sending you all a bunch of great vibes through this little online window. Here’s hoping that soon we’ll all come out this unscathed for drinks in the sun, a nice group swim, some beach cleaning, large picnics, or whatever else might float your boat. Keep asking if people are ok, keep checking on your friends and keep being gentle with yourself.
