Body and health: 2020 Taught Me How to Do Nothing

utorak, 29. prosinca 2020.

2020 Taught Me How to Do Nothing

From the Editors: Lessons Learned in 2020

2020 hasn't been an easy year for anyone. The Verywell Family, Fit, and Mind editors look back to reflect on their biggest challenges of the year and anticipate what's to come in 2021.

Laura Harold, Associate Editor

I moved into a new apartment one month before quarantine began. I didn't know my roommates very well (I found them on the internet). But once we all had to stay home, I felt grateful to be able to work remotely, and I was enjoying a lot of the time I got back from long days spent commuting to work and pushing myself to do any number of things after work that I never felt I had quite enough energy for: seeing friends, working out, going to shows, pursuing my interests outside of my job. In my new life, I found some relief, some freedom. But it begged the question: who am I without what I normally do?

One of my new roommates and I hit it off pretty quickly. Both of us being sage-burning, crystal-carrying, Tarot card-touting individuals, we never had a shortage of conversation to carry us through some of the darker, lonelier days.

"Do you want to play with my Animal cards?" she asked. I'd never heard of Animal cards but this seemed right in my wheelhouse, so I said yes.

I shuffled the deck and drew a card, upside down.

"The Worker Bee card. Oh… that's interesting," she replied, in an ominous tone reminiscent of the beginning of a horror movie.

She read from her booklet, "The Worker Bee brings a dedicated energy to its pursuits, never stopping until the task at hand is complete. The Worker Bee card, inverted, however, reflects that the energy at hand is repetitive, hammering away for a desired outcome that may never be reached."

"Does that resonate with you at all?" she asked.

I was never much into the idea of having a "spirit animal," but the Worker Bee and I seemed pretty similar. The attitude I've always tried to have is "I can do anything!" But the much needed follow-up to this statement that I was lacking is "I don't have to do everything." My problem of doing too much too intensely became much clearer in 2020, when there was nothing to really do, and I started to question whether I'd even wanted the things I was striving for in the first place. I hit a wall, hard.

But by the end of 2020, I can say that my priorities have shifted. No longer are my goals (and my happiness) existing outside of myself. Instead, I strive for peace. Even if that means doing nothing—and it so often does. The out-of-control state of the world around has made me realize what a precious commodity I am. That I am the only one of me the world has. Going into 2021, I want to remember that I don't have to be a Worker Bee—I can just be me.