We constantly hear messages about spending time relaxing and taking the time to treat yourself. While it can get really tiring hearing this a lot, it is important to remember. Especially if you are a creative person. Allowing yourself to take a break and do something fun and relaxing will help you recharge.
As a society, we are always told to keep working hard and only use our time for our careers—to constantly be in “work mode.” I think we can all agree that this way of thinking is no longer sustainable for everyone. With these last 9 months in quarantine, I think it would be hard to transition back to the busy lives we had before. People want to take time to breathe, as their jobs are not the most important things in their lives anymore. We all need to take a break when our minds and bodies tell us to.
I am not always the best at taking my own advice. Having experienced burnout before, I am trying to allow myself the time and space to do things that aren’t related to the arts, work, or school. I take breaks to watch some Netflix, or I watch some calming YouTube videos. I play a fun, low-stress video game or I read books that aren’t related to school. Sometimes I take a short walk or treat myself to some tasty foods. Even just putting on some exciting makeup and dressing up can help. I try to let myself do other things that are unrelated to any of my responsibilities. And if I need to push off homework and relax for my mental health, then I will try to do that. We can’t let our to-do lists dictate everything we do.
We all need to be a little kinder to ourselves. We all deserve time to do what we want, and we don’t always have to do things for others in our school and job lives. We don’t exist to work; we are allowed to exist for ourselves and our own interests. To truly recharge, we have to take the time to relax and just live our own lives outside of everything else.
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