Finding Little Spots of Sunlight in Dark Days
By Lauren Beizer
Our lives are so busy. The pandemic is evolving. We are currently in the dead of winter. Midterms are approaching. To me, these feel like dark days that are piling up and putting extensive strain on my and others mental well-being. Here are some ways that I have been able to find some positivity, even in the darkest of times.
1. The Simple Walk
Whether you take five, ten, or twenty minutes out of your day, take time for yourself and take a walk outside. Leave your phone in your room and try to clear your head. It is literally shocking how much a short walk can affect your productivity and overall mental wellness. If you can’t fit in a full workout or don’t have time to make a gym reservation, a small walk is the perfect fix for a muddled and stressed-out mind. Even though it is cold out, the Villanova campus looks beautiful with the recent snowfalls.
2. The Indulgent Snack
We all love a great snack. Whether you crave sweet or savory foods, have them. Sometimes fighting your craving adds additional strain on the mind, when in reality, having a reasonable amount of that snack won’t have a serious effect on your health in the long run. In fact, it could even bring you more happiness. There are plenty of delicious food places around Villanova, or you can just grab your nearest snack. Our mind gets malnourished as well, and we need to keep it going as best we can.
3. The Socializer Method
Talk to someone. Call anyone. Literally communicate with the closest person to you. Humans thrive off of natural human connection. With so much of our lives now on Zoom, we have to find ways to have safe, in-person conversations in order to keep up with and restore our human connections with each other. We need each other to survive and exist.
4. Write Everything Down
Grab your nearest journal and some fun-colored markers. Write down what you are feeling and even draw out something that is going on in your life. It is important to visualize things that are giving us trouble and express them in new ways. Our journals are our places of sacred writing and are like imaginary friends that we can tell everything to. Plus, journaling is simply relaxing.
5. Meditation Music
Hear me out. Playing meditation music before you go to bed is simply a game changer. When my roommate started playing it every night before we went to bed, I used to think she was slightly crazy. Now, I cannot go to bed without it. If you close your eyes, the music will take you right out of Bryn Mawr (or wherever you are located at the moment) and into a spa of your dreams. There are tons of apps on the App Store that provide access to this music free of cost.
Life can feel dark, especially given our current world situation. These are five things that I swear by in terms of helping me reset my day and restore my light as a human being. We cannot get lost in this burdening darkness and have to pull ourselves out, together.
