The Other Side of Positivity and Productivity During a Pandemic

As Told To Us by a Mental Health Professional 
positivity and productivity during a pandemic

When the lockdown period began, I noticed that social media was flooded with posts about ‘staying positive’ and ‘being productive’ while staying at home. From a word here, to a post there – before I knew it – this concept of ‘positivity and productivity during a pandemic‘ snowballed into entire pages, campaigns and challenges! It spread through Instagram and Facebook like wildfire.

When I saw this, my first thought was: sure, this approach could lead to a temporary spike in motivation and optimism, but in other words – it could also be a distraction from allowing us to completely acknowledge and process how immensely challenging this period truly is. And on the days that we potentially struggle to cope with these ‘socially acceptable’ methods, we can end up feeling either guilt or shame – if not both.

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I Spent a Month Without Setting an Alarm

It was first wonderful and then disastrous.
(Say that with a CAPITAL ‘D’.)
Sleepy Me - I spent a month without setting an alarm
Sleepy me

I’ve never really been distinctively shy of my dark circles, but come September end – when my insomnia was at its peak – I found it hard to dismiss the idea that I had started to – as my mother put it – ‘mildly resemble a raccoon’.

I had the face bone structure for it (not kidding), and the fact that a large part of my wardrobe is dominated by black, only happened to reinforce my mother’s above-mentioned hypothesis of my rapidly developing appearance.

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