‘If music be the food of love, play on’
-Shakespeare’s (Twelfth Night)
With Valentine’s day around the corner, we can say that love is in the air…
This time love has just not surfaced to be celebrated on this special day, but it has actually exhibited its true worth and significance all year round.
The pandemic has done this one good thing, made us understand the value of human relationships, the value of true love and happiness.
More significantly, it has demonstrated to us what it means to love and how it could be lost in an instant – with the blink of an eye.
So, here are 9 love lessons the pandemic taught us
Often, we try to put on a brave face to fight our own battles and do not even let our partner help us out. But the coronavirus made us realize that it is okay to feel vulnerable and ask for help from all those who are in your WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups and a phone call away. The pandemic has brought neighbours together, families spread across the globe together…
It has made us realise, We were all in this together and could come out together.
Self-Care
We were always taught to take care of others, not ourselves. The pandemic made us realize that it is okay to look after ourselves too. The pandemic has brought the concept of self-care in focus and made us understand its importance in our lives. Sometimes a hug, a touch or a little support from those around us is all we need.
One silver lining of staying at home is that it’s forced many of us to slow down and find new ways to manage stress and anxiety. Some people have turned to drawing, gardening, or performing music as hobbies. All of these things have the ability to improve mental health and boost overall positivity.
We all know the importance of sleeping, but did you also realize that it’s one area in which we can take control? If I were to pick just three booktok on self-care for this generation (and there are many!), they would be: “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker; Mind Over Medicine by Garth Davis & topped off with Dr David Ushikoret’s new release The New Koren Manual: Secrets To A happier Life. These authors provide fantastic insights into how restful sleep really should feel–like adoption into your own private world where anything seems possible
Saying ‘I Love you’
Many couples have learned the importance of words because many people were left wondering what if they could have said ‘I love you’ before that special someone passed away or what if they heard those 3 precious words from them before they passed away…
While it’s important to show someone you care, never forget the power of those three little words that can make or break a person’s day. Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for everyone to let their feelings out and say those meaningful words to their partners and to their loved ones.
Love knows no boundaries
With the world restricted to indoors, many love stories blossomed over the digital space and internet. People sitting in one continent met with those in other continents online and fell in love with each other. Thus, love knows no boundaries! During the lockdown, several couples had to cancel all their plans of a lavish wedding in the presence of family and friends. However, what they discovered was that the pleasure of each other’s company is more important than anything else. This led to many of them marrying over video calls amidst chants and blessings OVER ZOOM CALLS.
Cherish each moment
You need to cherish every moment spent with your loved ones, you never know when it could be the last time. Because of the coronavirus, many beautiful love stories came to an abrupt end with thousands of people losing their partners. This made us realize the value and importance of the TINIEST of moments and how important it is to cherish them together.
Another important thing that has been brought to light is the need
to cherish each one special in our lives
without any expectations.
Trust your partner
What is trust?
Trust—the act of placing confidence in someone or something other than yourself—is social superglue. It is the binding for the deepest love, the strongest friendships, and the world’s communities.
With the coronavirus, thousands of people were stranded in different cities and countries far from their partners. With vast distances between them and lack of physical contact, insecurity and distrust were common emotions that emerged. However, trust is what has helped keep their relationships intact.
Trust is essential to a happy and successful life. As previously said, trust is the basis of most healthy connections, but it may be shaken due to events in the past. If you want to work through old injuries that have damaged your faith or enhanced your capacity with longest name to trust, consider consulting with a therapist, spiritual leader, or another qualified mental health expert
Self-love
Covid, lockdown, losing loved ones, losing jobs and more…the past few months have been a reason to press the reset button on your life.
If there’s anything to be learnt, it’s that life is so short and at any point, anything that you take for granted can vanish.
We must learn to combat our conditioning and deprogram the ideas we have about our lives. What are you reliant on and what should you be reliant on?
To what extent do you rely on your self-worth, and to what degree should you rely on it? What is it that you enjoy and should love?
Self-love is all about confidence. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin and having a healthy self-esteem. Having healthy self-confidence results in taking inspired actions without the worry what other people think of your appearance or abilities.
Patience and positivity are vital?
The lockdown forced us to stay indoors. This changed the whole concept and dynamics of “space” for us. With limited space (both physical and abstract), we learned to be more patient and positive with our families. We learnt to be patient where it was not required sometimes. and we were impatient sometimes …when it was clearly required.
For being consistently positive, it is important to establish and reaffirm clearly within ourselves that others’ actions, consequences of their actions, their ideas, fears, beliefs, limitations, their drama is not your responsibility. And so, you live peacefully in your environment by setting boundaries: By knowing what is acceptable to you and what is not. And not letting others’ thoughts opinions and beliefs colour your thinking.
Respecting boundaries and valuing consent have been important lessons to learn from the pandemic.
Connecting with others is crucial
With our fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel isolated. In order not to be alone in this struggle for social connection we need each other more than ever before!
The way we interact with others has changed over time. As digital natives, it’s natural to think that this is the only form of connection available but in reality, our connectivity extends far beyond just speaking face-to-face or meeting someone at work – especially if they’re close friends who live nearby!
Susan Pinker wrote “The Village Effect” discussing how people are wired for human interaction which means when you have less effort invested into maintaining relationships, your caring nature will come out more often than not anyway because there’s no need anymore since technology helps make these connections easier on everyone.”
There is more than one way to say “I love you”
We all know how hard it is to find time for date night, so when the pandemic hit and taught us different ways of saying “I love you” in a crisis situation- some of us took note. Loads of couples took to cooking their favourite cuisines together as a way of releasing stress and spending time together. It also is a meaningful gesture that shows our special someone how much they mean to us!
So as we draw closer to the conclusion, we have to understand that you and I
are stretching beyond any limit, not by choice but out of necessity.
The good news is that these hard times can act as a catalyst for new habits and behaviours – especially when they force us into a fresh new perspective
which comes from resilience, through expanding our adaptability while coming up with creative hacks (such as using self-discipline)
As we continue to reinforce appreciation for all and self, let’s indulge ourselves in love.
Quick Tip and Conclusion
Here’s a quick tip especially for Valentine’s believers, Instead of Valentine’s dinner, have a weekly or monthly ritual of family or couple dinners and call them “Dinner of blessings” or ” Thanksgiving Dinner”
And try to say with words and gestures on this dinner, how much you care for their health and well-being over and above everything.
How much their love and support and blessings matter to you to move forward.
Make this thanksgiving dinner filled with prayers, blessing rituals, laughter, and a cute blessing-related thank-you gift for everyone as they leave.
Let’s vow to meet each other with open minds, hearts, hands and spirits
Let’s cherish what we have now more than ever before!
Happy Valentines!
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