I thought several times about how to start this text, and always remembering how my first post last year was, asking everyone “Why the rush?“, and today I try to share a “calm the mind”.
Numerically speaking, the year is gone, but the challenges, just as humanity has faced so many others, still remain. But with good science, organization and luck, we enter the final (long) phase of what's out there.
Staying at home created the “eternal new day”, one in which we do everything the same, but we follow several new events that helped or hindered humanity in taking the next evolutionary step… But all there, in front of a bright blue screen that , when turned off, showed the end of another day, and the new tomorrow in the same physical way, but a mental and emotional challenge for all of us.
It is not yet the time to reflect or hope that we have learned something from the past year, especially given the clear fact that the problem was not the year, but rather how we, as a single society, treated this year, whether or not we treated our next one. . As I still feel that we are in this process, I want to talk to you today about taking care of yourself, your mind, and your strength to continue in the longest struggle of most adults in this generation. Take a deep, slow breath for a few seconds, and come with me:
Would you like a glass of coffee or tea?
This can be your personal meditative cup. I like to notice the heat and flavor on the first sip – paying attention to the taste and how long it has been since I had that taste on my palate. As you do this, notice how the heat in your stomach makes you feel. And remember take your time. Do this action off-screen, looking out the window or listening to something interesting. Notice how simple and quiet things are when it's just you, a chair and a hot cup of coffee.
Be more affectionate with your eyes.
The internet can be a place full of irritating triggers, but it can also provide some of the most eloquent and enjoyable distractions in bite-size portions. There are many options for you to browse and discover, avoid looking for visual delight on someone else's social network – it's never good, one of my favorites is the subreddit r/oddlysatisfying. If it's not what you like, no problem, just look for light content that will honestly please your eyes and make you feel good.
Talk to someone about something other than politics.
This one will be really difficult for these months, but you can do it. Search for already confirmed interest groups or browse new ones, a book club, cinema club, series club, streaming channel club. Or even remember two decades of the 2000s and how we've changed so much since then. Remember the good times and allow yourself to dream about future plans in a world that needed to learn to work together to continue coexisting. Golden tip, come here to Update or Die which – I promise – will always have something different to help you generate a different conversation or another in your daily life.
These are small tips, but giants when applied in our daily lives, if you have more, send them in the comments. Today is another new day, in a new year, but we still need to take great care of ourselves, and continue evolving and growing in the midst of all adversity, without losing our lucidity and our own energy. Take care of yourself, and you will find the strength to take care of everyone you love most and who are around you, whether physically or not.
Start the year off right, and I hope we can bring a genuine sense of compassion, empathy, and mutual understanding into the future, and maintain a strong sense of awareness when we do things to care for ourselves.
A strong hug.
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