Mind over Matter (and maybe Corona?)

In a time when the body is stuck in the confines of your home, do you really need the mind to be so too?

Physical ailments aside, the bigger and rising concern for most of us will be dealing with the big question of mental health and well-being in a time when social interactions rule our sense of validation.

After having learnt to be constantly connected and socially active, we’re unlearning (albeit temporarily) to distance and to just be. It took a virus to take us back to basics and we struggle being where we began.

In the midst of this, we despise the loneliness that we feel for it’s unbearable to be isolated and caged from the world. Anxiety arises, depression hits and the uncertainty of it all hits harder than the virus possibly could. Ironic then that social media that was tying us closer than ever seems to not suffice anymore?

But we’re not lonely, we’re just alone, for a little while till the world rebounds. It’s the meaningful conversations that beat loneliness and the effort to find a way to unite that paves the way.

Amid this constant need of being connected, we feel lonelier than we ever imagined ourselves to be. With every app wanting to connect us more, the choice of meaning of “connection” still resides with us. The choice of our well-being is still indeed, a choice.

The real struggle lies with those who fight for sustenance and are having sleepless nights owing to the world ahead which brings with it grave financial and economic impact that a pandemic such as this is bound to bring. Or those who struggle with ongoing issues of depression, anxiety, insomnia and much more, where every additional day of a lockdown feels like a year and there is no will left to function.

I hope for once, the social networks and support groups use all the learnings of social interactions and outreach to ensure the well-being of those who struggle everyday with the question of floating above water. Hope we don’t let another day pass by without meaning when we truly had the luxury of time to make a choice. Have you made your choice today?