The red zone blues

The Other Side was a satire column that frequently appeared in what was then called the Arts and Culture section of The Concordian in 1994. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

This lockdown feels different from the last

Back in March, when lockdown first began, a little something called self-reinvention came into vogue. For many students, early quarantine was characterized by at-home workouts and loaves of bread baking in the oven. We video chatted with friends and family, took long walks in the cool spring mornings, and finally cracked open the dusty books we’d been meaning to read. We did anything and everything we could to make the days go by faster and to drown out the anxieties that come hand-in-hand with global pandemics. Whether this actually worked or not is still up for debate.

It’s October now, and while many things haven’t changed, lockdown feels different this time around. These past few weeks at The Concordian, we’ve been having discussions about COVID fatigue and how a lot of us are feeling burnt-out and uninspired lately. Our pandemic-induced hobbies have fallen to the wayside, only to be replaced by an incessant consumption of Netflix and the ordering of box after box of takeout (granted, we did all this back in March, too, just with more exercise and soul-searching in between).

In retrospect, the pressure we put on ourselves in those early days of quarantine was unrealistic and unfair. It turns out that worldwide catastrophes are not particularly conducive to awe-inspiring, all-encompassing self-improvement. Who knew?

As we wait out the second wave of this storm, let’s embrace a slightly different approach to personal growth. If it made you happy the first time, take up baking and yoga again, and incorporating some more morning walks into your routine couldn’t hurt. But keep in mind that not every step you take needs to be an Instagrammable moment. Sometimes improvement looks like eating a vegetable for the first time in days; sometimes it’s taking a breather on the balcony; sometimes it’s calling your grandma; and sometimes it’s asking your professor for an extension.

So, if you’ve been feeling blue lately, you can try what many of us at The Concordian will be practicing in the coming weeks: treating ourselves with tenderness and care, and trying to drink more water.

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Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

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