Comfort at the time of COVID

Lets talk about comfort. Not the “C” word you’re used to reading about right now, ha? It’s 2020 and the whole world is talking about one thing: COVID-19. It’s a strange time and in my lifetime, there hasn’t been a pandemic, or an epidemic, or any other crisis that was THIS global: I mean, we’re slowly but surely shutting down and quarantining the whole planet, country after country and it’s very easy to give in to panic attacks right now.
 
Here’s my position. We can’t minimize the risks of this. It’s a serious virus that puts the elderly and people with serious pre-existing conditions in serious danger. It is also clearly easily spread and very often asymptomatic or mild, so it’s better to practice self-quarantine and social distancing for now. BUT. It’s also important not to give into panic and stress because outside of the few precautions we can take, we can’t really control the situation and all this stressing is going to take a long-term toll on our lives. 
 
Writing about fashion right now seems silly (although I do want to write about consumerism at a time like this. IT IS OUT OF HAND PEOPLE). And I kept thinking of how I can address the pandemic on my usually fashion-focused blog… and then! I got a rude comment on Instagram (from someone I don’t know, of course) telling me that “it’s not about how you feel” at a time like this. And I thought: YES IT IS. 
 
First off, it’s important to pay attention to HOW YOU’RE FEELING and not ignoring even the slightest symptoms of tiredness or headaches and quarantining yourself THE SECOND you suspect you might be sick… But also, we’re all collectively sitting in isolation and stressing so much right now, that this can’t be great for our mental health, in both short and long-term. Right now, more than ever, it’s extremely important to care about how you feel.

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT COMFORT

Matt and I shot this look pre-outbreak and there can’t be a more fitting outfit for the topic.

This suit is by an ethical AFL (Australian Fashion Label) The Fifth, evidently very comfortable and useful during a self-isolation from the world.

*With the temporary quarantine-at-home requirements all around the world, physical comfort, especially for those of us working from home, is by far more achievable than its mental counterpart. The whole world is on edge and I know this because I’m feeling this: depressing thoughts, fear, uncertainty, panic, helplessness and a whole bunch of other things that, simply put, aren’t fun. It was after day 2 of feeling like, to quote Rachel Green “there’s rock bottom, there’s 50 feet of crap, then theres me,” that I needed to do something about making sure my emotional comfort is taken care of. Here are the top 5 things that are making me feel more comfortable and sane right now:

  1. Matt. – We live together, but spending quality time right now feels more valuable than ever. We stay busy all day working but still spend nights talking through rapidly evolving current events and sipping wine.
  2. Staying connected with friends & family. – Sometimes hearing other people’s perspectives or just simply understanding you’re not alone in this situation really helps. My friends and I even started doing virtual girls’ nights where we dress up (as if we were going out), pour ourselves some wine, and gossip via video.
  3. Meditate, do yoga, take a bath, do a face mask, or do any other self-pampering. – I’m predicting all of us having some serious PTSD when all this blows over, so right now we need to do as much as we can to our minds and bodies to keep calm. I take bubble baths with a glass of wine, do sheet masks that I never had time for, paint my nails every few days, listen to guided sleeping meditations, and do breathing exercises.
  4. Taking a break. – Understand that just because you have some extra time on your hands, doesn’t mean you need to write a novel or design a collection or do anything else that’ll take up all your free time. It is absolutely ok to take a step back and just use this time to do nothing, take a breather and hang out in bed watching cat videos on your phone.
  5. Focus on a hobby. – The opposite of the point above. Maybe this is the perfect time for you to focus your energy on something you’ve been meaning to do but just never got around to doing! For example, I took a few nights off from being productive, and now finally dedicating more time to growing my Instagram and this blog, revising the publishing calendar, rethinking topics, coming up with some new ideas, and staying busy is also keeping me very distracted.

 

*I don’t want to sound ignorant. I understand there are people who don’t have the luxury to work from home. People whose jobs directly require them to be exposed to the sick. People who simply aren’t able to work from their bedrooms and still have to commute (my mom, for example). People who can’t feel comfortable right now because their loved ones are in jeopardy. People who will lose their jobs or businesses. My heart goes out to everyone feeling a strong impact from the virus. This post is simply meant to maybe make someone who is in the same working-from-home boat as me, feel not alone, less stressed, and inspired to take care of their mental health during this crazy time.

IN CONCLUSION…

We’ll get through this guys. We have to! It won’t be easy and no-one knows what’s going to happen next, but we’re all in this together. Literally the whole world! How crazy is that!? All we can do now is take care of ourselves, quarantine at home if possible, wear masks, keep our distance and avoid crowds, stay in touch with each other, support one another and we’ll come out stronger on the other end of this.