Since there’s no escaping, I thought I’d reflect about how to manage your anxiety during this shit-show. (Hopefully this might be useful to other anxious humans as well!)
Dear Pre-Pandemic Me, Things are about to get hard again…
Everything around you is going to change. Significantly. You’ve felt loneliness before but not like this, this one is different. It’s going to be tough for a while but you’re going to emerge from it happy with your own company. Some days I have to work on it harder than others but you come to realise that you are enough as you are and that just showing up is okay…
Dear Pre-Pandemic Me, Get ready for a wild few years…
The years coming will challenge you in lots of ways but they will make you stronger and appreciate just how many people you have around you. The pandemic makes you sit back and look at who and what are important to you, you’ll howl with laughter despite everything and realise that your parents are actually pretty awesome to spend time with…
Dear Pre-Pandemic Me, You are going to cut your hair…
You are going to cut your hair. Because you will grow restless. You cannot go out and no-one comes in. even though you won’t be seen there is a mirror in the bathroom…
Dear Pre-Pandemic Me, Don’t ever shrink yourself again…
You started well, but you got lost. You realised the importance of community; a community you connect with. In the absence of love, you turned to appearances in a desperate attempt to change your circumstances. It did not work. You met the wrong people and did the wrong things, but it was not a waste. But it did feel like it…