Are celebrities the most irritating people right now?

I know I am late to the party but trust me, this ends well.

True story: I was going through my instagram(my bad) and I came across a post of a popular boy band launching their merch(this is the thing you can’t get rid of, especially college affectations). There were a lot of things, masks, hoodies, t- shirts. And just out of curiosity I went to comments. And everyone was saying the same thing. “I am broke”, “My wallet is empty”, “I need to survive next year”, and the list was endless.

I won’t say that it was unexpected but such comments could be seen on various social media platforms. Hell, even I feel the same thing. Is the standard of living going down? Or The marketers are misjudging the situation. You must have noticed, big luxury brands are making masks and selling them at a price which is higher than what people make doing minimum wage jobs. I am not saying luxury goods should be affordable. But selling protective masks, feels like a misjudgement.

Same is with gyms, movie theaters, beauty salons, etc. Every commodity that media sells us is becoming more and more unaffordable. People are being skeptical about it. They don’t even want to buy hotel food. Let alone luxury goods. We are not stepping out, we are not meeting people, even if we are meeting people we are social distancing. We are following too many rules to be really carefree.

Its hard for lifestyle market to thrive nowadays and media advertises and benefits from it. So all the celebrities who used to rule social media with brand advertisements and photoshoots might have a hard time. They are receiving hate for not being socially aware. But its their job to stay relevant. But can they really be relevant when there’s a global pandemic messing with us.

What I came to know from all this is that I always preferred spending quality time with friends and family. That’s valuable, isn’t it? No matter how much celebrities feign intimacy, we always have the people we love and care(its even better when they do the same). And try it in any live stream people who join it always end up discussing about the things they like, many a times ignoring the streamer.

That tells it all!

Happy or sad: A mixture of pandemic sideffects.

I had been wondering lately. Are we feeling alright? Has time stood still or are we standing still for a while, just to save our lives. Now that the world is calling us superhero for lying on the couch and doing nothing. When FOMO is killing us. What should we really feel? Happy or sad.

Its something that’s bothering me. Everytime I wake up in the morning. I regret it, instantly. Its like my life is more monotonous in quarantine than it was before. We are working overtime, especially women who take care of household chores, kids and their jobs. Its like the more time we spend indoors the more forcibly productive we become.

The clock never stops and neither do we. But when I think about it, its not as simple as it looks. Only the time slots have changed not the routine. So are we worried over nothing? There’s a constant see-saw of emotions going on in my mind. And if you feel it too then I assure you, you are not the last.

People with mental health issues and people in general are having a hard time in this situation. The social distancing guidelines are not just driving us crazy its also keeping us away from the good times we are so used to. We can’t see friends and family, we can’t have get togethers and we can’t step out unless its really important. This could lead to feeling crippled and alienation. Yeah! We have constant connectivity but what’s the use of it, if that’s the only thing connecting us. Flying kisses and hand waves can’t match the thrill of face to face conversation.

What’s more valuable is knowing the value of it all. I never thought I will ever sit back and think about how lucky I am to have a cup of coffee with friends or going on a early morning walk, having a road trip and attending my best friend’s wedding. I hope we will keep on going even if the clock never stops. We have to, that’s what we are good at.

See you next week!

Bye.

Folklore: Am I daydreaming.

Well, my emotional tug of war is on and taylor swift decided to drop a surprise album full of nostalgia and bidding farewell to the days of youth.

Taytay has always been like a big sis figure to all her fans. She warned us about the ups and downs of heartbreak and an individual’s struggle of being themselves and trying to get societal acceptance. Her songs White horse, Mean, I knew you were trouble and the latest The man proves it.

But this time she turned the tables. Besides being mega popstar that she is. She returned to who she was back in the time when I first found her. What really enthralled me was her declaration of being your normal small town girl next door and god, I was hooked. I still remember playing Tim Mcgraw on repeat every time I pulled an all nighter to study for finals.

I was laughed at for being a swifty, for listening to over sensitive songs of lost love and trying to find aspirations in a world which pulls you down. But this time I was smiling too. I was singing Mean in my mind and smiling and dancing to Shake it off and smiling even more. I felt blessed.

Her music was something I could come back and reflect on. Whether it was Hunger Games ost Safe and Sound or a song like Highway don’t care. It felt relatable and meaningful. Her music was meaningful. She made that argument when critics questioned her vocal abilities.

As a fan, I only listened to her music. I didn’t care about what she had to do with justin bieber, katy perry and kardashian-west. But as much as her music made reference to all the bad blood she had, I and many ignorant fans came to know about it. Through social media and every other media her songs were investigated for the tiny details referring to real life mishaps. But, like a true escapist that I am, I listened to her album and decided if I was bored or not. That’s it!

Her new album was a surprise in every possible way. The songs included were quite different than her earlier discography. In the artist’s own words it all started with imagery and stories that are shared from one person to the other. And everything sounded sad. It took me a week to listen to the album despite of the pandemic lockdown. It was that sad. But I am too hell bent on looking for the glimmer of hope and I found it in this album too.

You can stream this album if you want to look for that glimmer of hope too. I would say its just like looking for hope in real life.

Pandemic made us do and face a lot of things, things we hate, things we never thought we could face. But returning to our roots might be something we could do without being forced. And taylor with her Folklore has proved it.

Unemployment, due to pandemic or otherwise.

Hey guys,

I am back!

The topic I am about to discuss is a bit serious and might be reason to panic for some.

Like in my last post, I talked about how the matters of love might be disturbing for some people then the biggest, most disturbing problem people might be facing nowadays is UNEMPLOYMENT.

Yes, its a sad truth but many workers and office employees are being laid off due to pandemic and that doesn’t mean people who have a job are having it easy because now they have to work double shifts also due to pandemic(especially government officials, doctors and nurses and essential services providers).

People losing their jobs is a big deal. Why?you may ask, answer is simple. Its their means of livelihood and getting another job is also hard especially in present circumstances. But, what about people who are already unemployed? Well, they are going insane. Yes, you read it right. Most unemployed people all around the world are feeling completely uncertain and hopeless about future. Then, what about new graduates?

Ahh! That’s enough, we are dealing with a situation we never thought we would be facing, like ever. Let alone being prepared for it. Yet,(at least for me) we have made it so far.

I don’t know what to do, and I am as clueless as everybody is. But I can’t deal with life without reading news and self help blogs(that’s how obnoxious I am) so here we go, I hope this helps you.

Tips:

Accept your feelings

Knowing what you feel helps. If you are happy, sad, angry. Accept it and move on. Denying your feelings won’t help.

Acknowledge your grief

Its obvious that there’s grief. And there are better ways to handle it. You don’t have to wallow in sorrow all alone. Reach out to friends and family. To people who understand.

Maintain perspective

Have a positive mindset.

Seek out resources

Try and find new ways to achieve success and satisfaction.

Assume the best in others

Please don’t judge.

Use your energy wisely

Always, especially when it comes to mental health.

Focus on the present moment

Worrying about future is never going to help you. Living in Present and thinking about present might.

Find your value

Losing your job won’t make you worthless. Always know that your self worth doesn’t have to do anything with having a job.

Take care of yourself

The most important of it all. You can only achieve your goals if you are healthy.

Yeah! I know the post is quite big. But I needed to share this.

Take care!

Bye.

Love in the time of Corona.

Hello! Everybody.

I hope you guys are doing well. Because in the situation we are facing right now. Its the least we can do in the name of self care. Now that we are too scared of buying medical supplies(I have stocked them, btw), don’t have the nerve to go grocery shopping(my way: online supermarkets) and can’t have salon appointment( everyday is a bad hair day). What can we do in the matters of love.

Yes, me of all people is talking about love. Because I had to. After watching the pre planned wedding fiascos on news(so many weddings were cancelled, people got married in video chats too), and matchmaking sites were offering free registering services(some way to make money post lockdown because you have to pay charges afterwards). I just had to talk about this.

Another good reason is celebrating first marriage anniversary of my most fav. couple on video call(just somethings people like me say recently graduated out of college and all). Whatever it is, cheering, clapping and chit chatting over dinner feels like a long time ago. If not this but people are a bit anxious now, especially because of being new to the concept of social distancing. Even though we are a bit anxious about everything(yeah! No matter what they say I can’t order food anymore, I just don’t have the guts). This situation could be used as an advantage.

We can self retrospect and reflect over past. We can think more about how we hurt people unknowingly. We can keep a journal about it. I kept a journal about it too and the results were shocking. At the end of the day, its all about caring for each other. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us this same thing in quite harsh way.

As our way of living changes due to pandemic our way of loving can change too.

Lets hope it brings more love and understanding.

Till then……..Bye.

The new normal.

As we complete more than 100 days in quarantine,we can say things are going back to normal or maybe not.

When the corona virus crisis started raising its ugly head we were barely ready for it. We went through a lot during all these months. Some of us suffered more than others but one thing was common between us all, none of us deserved it. And none of us will deserve what’s yet to come.

We became heroes by lying on the couch during daytime, we became heroes by working hard in and out of our homes. But didn’t we miss birthday parties and morning walks.

Didn’t we miss mingling with friends, or did we just miss the gossip. Did we miss dressing up or were we glad about pjs for work and pjs for home.

We are living in chaos right now and the uncertainty of it is unspeakable. Its like we are hanging by a thread and we can’t do anything about it. Yeah! We are glued to the screen and as google tells us everyday about how to stay mentally healthy. The gaps between our lifestyles, our surroundings and the people that surround us will never be filled.

Living with all this is really hard, but we have made it so far. As we try to find stability in this chaos, we must remember that we have made it so far. Yeah! The future is uncertain and we don’t even know who is dealing with what but for me a ship is always held in place by anchors. Even in raging storms the anchors hold it in place.

Let’s find the anchors for our ships.

Best of luck to everybody who’s trying to do something with their free time.

Struggle or support.

These days I am not in the right state of mind. If I am not working then I am either exercizing or listening to music or watching a movie or chatting with friends or sleeping. When your daily activities are reduced to that with being locked in the house. You would be thinking the same thing. What are we gonna do? Is this really the end?

But the story doesn’t end here. We are facing more difficult situations with each passing day. And it never stops. I have to tell myself that everything is going to be fine. That this might feel uncertain but we can still find a way. Its something that we tell ourselves all the times. But this time it feels a bit different. Its too uncertain.

Not like social media and internet is helping. Every time someone suggests Alexander Dumas, everytime I see fashion magazines promoting black lives matter content, and everytime I see celebrities posting pictures with protesters, I feel, are we missing the big picture.

Yes, spreading awareness is need for the day but are we doing all this with some ulterior motives. Motives are fine too. But are they so shallow that they can’t respect centuries of struggle. Are humans making struggle, a habit and support, a rare occurence.

There were helping hands extended as well. I came across various posts encouraging donations to various charities and organizations which support black lives matter. I read some of the most beautiful posts about youth being involved in social causes and encouraging them. These were the words that encouraged kindness itself. I restrained writing about it but I feel obliged to write about it now that I can allow myself to be kind to myself. To not judge myself when I say “yeah! This inspired me to write”. All my blogs were about things that affect me in real time.

So now that I ignore frivolous content about everything that tries to get my itsy, bitsy attention span. I decide to be kind to myself, kind enough to retrospect, to think, to realise; my ups and downs, my qualities and my quirks and how it has to do with only me and these things should not stop me from supporting a good cause.

I did it, you can do it too!!

Dealing with toxic people in isolation

“when the going gets tough the tough gets going”

That’s my motto when it comes to life. Or should I say about the stuation we are facing. Missing morning walks at the parks( at least I do), missing sunday morning walks at the park with my brother(this is the worst part: it almost feels like a dream now)

But what about people you live with and you don’t like them and neither they. How can you feel good in such a panic state like right now. Its like big brother/bigg boss episode where anything could make you mad like who didn’t turn off the kitchen tap? Or who ate a full packet if instant noodles in the morning? Or my favorite who didn’t close the cookie jar( I am right now on closing duty, close everything bathroom taps to fridge door and almond box, cookie jars ofcourse.)

But if living with this constant anxiety of did I wash my hands before eating makes me mad then what about other things that I should be mad about. Sometimes I am anxious because other people are not anxious enough. Why should I have to be the one wondering about how long the kitchen tap was on. We can do so much more than that.

Then there are other things, like people out there having a hard time which is questioning their very means of livelihood.

Afterall, we are all anxious like that.

Locked up in Lock down

Between getting enough ingredients to make a decent meal and getting enough fuel to cook it, I am fine.

Between washing hands every hour and “did I wash my hands before eating?”, I am fine.

Between cleaning every surface and washing clothes everytime I go out for getting milk for first time in three weeks, I am fine.

Between spending quality time with family and video calling my school friends, I am fine.

Between looking for slots for online grocery shopping and waiting for it to arrive, I am fine.

Between 90’s tv series and viral “virus” memes, I am fine.

Between nothing going on at the moment to so much has to be done, I am fine.

Between worrying about future and worrying about present, I am fine.

Just hoping this would end soon.

Stay home, Stay safe.

When the funny man cries.

Oh No! don’t know how to begin. This feels so stupid but really I am not in the April fool’s day mood at all. But when I think about it, I am like bring it on, let’s play the naughtiest prank on my best friend but I recently got out of college and trying to be an adult and all that. And then again I am kinda depressed.

These days it’s especially hard because of the Corona virus pandemic and not knowing what’s really going on but yeah, I still remember how to laugh.

Happy April fool’s day!