It’s psychologically damaging, isn’t it? Having
your routine, your agency, your free will ripped from under you at a moment’s
notice. Not to even delve into the medical mystery of it all.
Every lunchtime when I was at school, slumped by
the blue PE equipment storage containers, me and my best friend would repeat our
mantra ‘stop the world; I want to get off’. But now it’s finally happening, it feels
like the sky is pressing down and smothering me. I walk through the city
streets with sunglasses shading my watery eyes from view.
Being entirely unsettled, and stuck inside with
your family, is hard enough for the average human. But even more difficult for adolescents
who are plagued with a barrage of mental-health-destroying hormones, complex
social relationships and tons of schoolwork.
At the risk of sounding corny, you are not
alone. What I mean by this is that you must not be hard on yourself for feeling
lethargic, down or frustrated. I feel all of these things too and I have long
since settled from the nightmare which was teenage-hood. I have a few tips to keep you sane and healthy
through this dystopian nightmare, but before we jump into them, I want to
explore some more general advice that is often locked away from teenagers in
order to keep them placid and compliant.
The media shapes what it is to be a person in
the modern world. It forms a solid image of exactly what it is acceptable to be,
and that image is sexist, racist, classist and downright vile in a lot of cases.
It is designed to make money from creating insecurities in people, and this is
never more apparent than when you are a teenager. As I’m sure you are, I was
pretty aware of this when I was a young adult. But I was still massively
affected. I spent years of my life feeling ugly, disgusting and being very shy
around anyone that I thought was more attractive than me. Nowadays, I don’t
shave, I look in a mirror maybe twice a day and I rarely spend time on
beautification. That is not to say that people shouldn’t. Of course, if you
enjoy working-out or coordinating outfits or anything that boosts your self-esteem,
absolutely relish it! But try to separate your context from the outer world.
What I mean by ‘your context’ is this: A lot of
people when they walk into a room, subconsciously rank the attractiveness of
everybody in the room. And they place themselves in the list, usually laced
with a heap of insecurities and insults – e.g. I’m too skinny/ fat, tall/short,
masculine/ feminine etc. to be as attractive as them. I’ve done the same. Hell,
even now in a moment of weakness, I may revert to this. But you need to
separate your self-esteem and self-love from the façade of others. You are
whole in and of yourself, and nothing about the outside world should be allowed
to take that away from you. Love yourself for you. Love others for them. But
don’t compare, contrast, or judge based on a front.
As I said, I wasted years of my life with
insecurities that stopped me going out in the world. Now, I happily take up and
hold space, voice my opinions, concerns and ideas, lead conversations, roam around
alone (at home and abroad) and assert my presence in the world. This takes
time, but it’s bloody important! My favourite thing to do is take myself on a
solo date, which is usually comprised of a coffee and a good book in a local,
independent café where they know me as ‘oat cappuccino with cinnamon on top’.
But sometimes I catch a piece of quirky queer theatre or sit in a park. Don’t
be held back from doing things on your own and discovering the everyday delicious
sparks of joy that make you tick. This is what we must learn from lock
down – life is short, and everyday is a chance for a solo quest. Grab it while
you can.
So, we’re reaching the end of this virus ridden
ramble, and I want to leave you with the following options of what to do to
preserve your sanity under police-controlled lock and key:
Reach out – Today text every single one of your friends.
Put something on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit. Don’t let people feel isolated
and alone. And make plenty of adventuresome plans for when we’re released.
Read – Dust off the sci-fi, apocalyptic fiction,
fantasy and dystopia. Revel in the agency of the characters and their missions
to survive. Escape!
Exercise – Catch an hour without your family by going for
a walk to the pond, beach, park, river, field. Wherever you can go, go. Connect
with nature. Breathe the air. Get outside!
Good luck, comrades. I believe in you. We will
survive this blip in history.
This is the first of lots of content yet to
come. Please comment with any questions and suggestions. Like and subscribe for
more teen related content.
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