New phrases and terms are constantly showing up in our modern vocabulary. It's a predictable pattern that our culture tends to trend. Certain terms can be more impactful than others, while some are just quirky forms of expression. Uses range from casual lingo to the reinvention of an already existing concept for the next generation. Some words eventually make it into the dictionary if they have enough impact.
So what’s new, then? What are we all going to look back on and remember about the times we’re in today? There are always few thoughts that immediately come to mind. While it would be nice to dedicate words for the light-hearted idioms that are a product of our times, some of the more complex and divisive terms take precedence.
The concept isn’t new, yet the focus is certainly something we haven’t considered recently. At least not quite as seriously until as of late, which is a disparity, as we should have always kept it in mind. It’s never too late, history is accepting of repeating itself anyway.
This is about mental health and it’s newfound, 2021 awareness.
Pandemic-inspired, this generation will have its own cultural identity with the concept of preserving a healthy headspace. The unfortunate problem is that the topic was never worth mentioning until it started making headlines.
Nevermind that the American work ethic is more concerned with the end result than the journey it takes to get there. That most of us are statistically willing to overcome an unrealistic bandwidth to get where we want to be career-wise.
Nobody is going to tell you to take a break. You just need to know when enough is enough. The worst part of it is that nobody else takes a break, or at least that’s the way it seems. So if you take a break, you fall behind, and the goal seems even more unattainable or at least much more difficult, had you kept at it longer than you needed to.
Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka are the most regarded athletes in their respective sports, but the work caught up to their psyche. The only reason you know that is because they have publicly stated so, resulting in conversational shockwaves. You can take that for how it is written, in pity, disappointment or understanding. How can someone who has it all, the physical composition at least, lack in performing because of what is going on mentally? The answer should be rhetorical, however is embarrassing that we haven't thought of it sooner. You truly can’t have one without the other.
No, we aren’t all professional athletes, but we are all people. And capable of so much in the correct physical as well as mental headspace. I’m certain that our own personal bandwidth has caught up to us before, yet there is no awareness or attention associated. No headlines in sight. The lack of attention doesn’t diminish the severity of being deprived of simply taking a break when needed.
We all want to look back on the past fondly. So in an effort to say ‘Hey, that pandemic was rough, but we certainly took care of business (or something to that degree)’ it will take the conscious effort of pacing ourselves in returning to something we can handle capably. Which is really the baseline of what we all need in our lives at the moment. We’re all going to make it to the finish line eventually, the more important thing to consider is how we are going to feel when we get there.