Why it's Okay to Not Be Okay this January

         It's not a far stretch to say that a plethora of things have fallen apart in this era of uncertainty. I know my life has definitely gotten hectic. I've struggled to keep things organized, clean my room, and sometimes even wake up and brush my teeth. There's been numerous days where I've struggled to even get myself out of bed. But instead of letting this debilitate me further, I think I've learned that sometimes it's better to just come to terms with it. With that, though, the question then becomes: How???

    One helpful thing my therapist told me that I thought I'd share is "to treat this December and January as precisely what it is - a break." 

    I wasn't sure about this advice at first, but the more I considered it the more I realized that this is a good and fair point. Whether you were at school and in the dorms or found yourself stuck at home on Zoom with your family this semester, you still made it through Fall fair and square. Even if you didn't do as good as you normally do academically, or you didn't get to play the sport you love, things are still okay! This was a brutal process for all of us, and you made it!

    Human beings, whether you're introverted or extroverted, thrive on interaction. At the end of the day, we're social beings, and thats a fact. Because of this pandemic, we've gotten so little social interaction. We're seeing this is an actual prevalent issue in babies, as the pandemic is stretching out further, and finding that these children who've recently been born and exposed only to their parents are dealing with a whole scope of social, attachment, and developmental issues. This is an actual thing that we should be concerned about.

    I don't say that to be negative, though. I'm saying it as a fact, for those that need actual proof that times aren't normal. I know a lot of college professors acted like things were fine this semester, and were relentless with the work loads, but at the end of the day that's not how we should be thinking as a society. Instead, you should be so proud you made it. You made it through with more obstacles than usual being thrown your way. On top of the regular heaping amounts of school work, you also made it through rough bouts of pandemic depression, anxiety, financial struggles, and all the other terrible things we've found thrust on our generation these past couple months. 

    So if you can't get out of bed this January, know that that's okay. If you find yourself bored on New Years because you can't go out and be social with friends, take a deep breath and consider this a time of true rest. We're so used to the go-go-go, especially during the school semesters. Instead, take this time to actually take a break.

    You deserve it!