A new year has begun, but we are only in the beginning of the winter months, and this surge of Covid-19 is continuing to get worse. People are growing restless, and they are ready to socialize. After all, how much baking of sourdough bread can one distract oneself with? This past year has felt unending and redundant. So I offer a new plan for the rest of this self-isolation, and hopefully, it is one that you can carry forward even after entering more eventful and social periods of life. What is my plan? Self-discovery.
With everything that Covid-19 is taking from us, one thing it is likely giving you is time. Time to use however you please—so long as that is largely without others. That seems to limit one’s options, doesn’t it? It does in some ways, but it also expands them, for this is time to be alone. Time to experience yourself. American society emphasizes hustle, and the culture views slow living as unproductive. While productivity is important to living a successful life, it can come at the price of ease, enjoyment, and truth if one is not careful. Constant business is a distraction for many—an excuse not to face one’s struggles. Understandably, that excuse is enticing to make.
For many, it is also a reality; lists and lists of things to do can crowd out any room left for decompressing, and it is easy to get lost in this hustle. This is action, but action without thought is, dare I say, meaningless. For the meaning, the purpose in these daily actions, are they demands you feel an obligation towards meeting, or are they actions that you genuinely care about and wish to do for yourself? I suspect that for many, the answer is the former. Do these demands fulfill you, then? Do they feed your sense of purpose? Are you living your truth?
With many of these obligations, and distractions, becoming unavailable to us now, I wonder, is it the world telling us to stop trying to keep up with the unreasonable expectations of modern society and instead look inward? Fulfillment, after all, comes only from living according to your wishes, your truth. Perhaps this is a message for the human race to stop entertaining ourselves with superficiality and instead enter the unknown, unexplored parts of ourselves that have been calling to us for so long. Simply sit with yourself. Alone. Without distractions.
There is so much to discover within a person, and right now is the finest chance to do this. As we socially distance ourselves from others, let us come closer to ourselves, and meet the mysteries within.