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COVID-19 Lockdown: My Experience
When the lockdown started, I was ecstatic. My final year of school had finished early, exams were cancelled, the sun was shining. I was happy, and confident I would be OK. After all, how hard could staying at home possibly be? After a while, the reality of the situation started to sink in. The novelty of being at home wore off and I started to struggle. I suffered from regular panic attacks, frozen on the floor in my room, unable to move or speak. I had nightmares most nights, and struggled to sleep. It was as if I was stuck, trapped in my house and in my own head. I didn't know how to cope...
How My Education Has Been Affected By the Coronavirus
In the UK, GCSEs and A level exams have been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several other countries have also cancelled their exams for the same reason. Many of us didn't expect to be upset over the cancellation of exams; there was a time when that would have been every student’s dream. However at this moment in time, many young people including me, are left uncertain about our next steps which may be connected to our academic achievements. A lot of us have been feeling like we are no longer in control of our future, which can understandably make us anxious. For the most part...
Coronavirus: the positives - how we can find happiness in hardship and why we must
Optimism cannot solve every problem, but a smile always helps. At the moment there is little escape from COVID-19. It is a tragedy and disaster to all of us across the world - so many have died and so many are struggling. It dominates the news, social media and our lives; we can barely blink without thinking about the pandemic. I am a member of the Unicef UK Youth Advisory Board, and this coronavirus story began after we were sent advice and information by Unicef. This led us to discuss what we could do to help, and ways to raise awareness of the crisis. We’ve written an open letter calling...
COVID-19: What I Experienced
Perhaps symbolically, on Friday the 13th of March I started self-isolating with my sister as we both had symptoms of COVID 19. It was a full 10 days before the UK went into lockdown and whilst we were stuck inside, the world I knew was being ground to a historic halt. Being detached from everyone, even my family, was surreal. The 14 day period we spent in quarantine was exhausting. At the start we didn’t know much, information on the situation was being drip fed via newspaper articles and columns. The guidance was geared towards older people and I was constantly left with more questions than...
Happiness
The clouds are dark, The sun is gone, Like a spark, It moves on. Sitting here, lonely but alive, rather than standing there, happy but dead. The roof shelters me from the rain, The sky shelters me from the space, The bed shelters me from the cold, and my skin shelters me from it all I lay here, and I don’t move an inch, thinking I’ll disappear, When I am still really here Strong yet fragile, Big yet small, Dead yet alive, Happy but sad. When the clouds clear up, And the sun shows up, When the children stop their cries And the adults stop their lies. Happiness will come, Sadness will go Joy...
Stay close to me forever
There's not a day that goes by Where I don't think about you Your personality, your inspiration Your advice on what to do You are the sunrise in the morning The twinkle in the stars at night The robin who comes to my window The brightness of the moon's shining light Thank you for your wisdom Your stories and unconditional love Thank you for your knowledge Your support and warming hugs Because of you my heart is grateful I look for happiness in every woe I search for friendship in all strangers Spreading kindness everywhere I go And when difficulties arise When times start getting tough Let me...
World Mental Health Day: Coping with anxiety
What we gain when we lose
We aren’t taught to lose. Not at all. No matter how trivial, it seems that the art of losing has become entrenched as something so wrong, something to fear, something to avoid. Upon even contemplating the thought of losing, those unwelcome feelings of disappointment, sadness, and panic begin to circulate, accompanied by a deep sense of deflation. Perhaps it was a game we lost, a competition, a tournament. Perhaps it was a special object, something we can never replace. Perhaps it was a loved one. Losing somebody who meant so much to us is an ache like no other, a combination of sadness, anger...
Coping and Discussing Mental Wellbeing in a Global Pandemic
Now more than ever, it's vital to discuss mental health openly and without judgment. This year, we have all been affected in some way by the several tragic events that have taken place, from the Australian bushfires to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feelings of grief, anxiety and loneliness have become more frequent for millions of people, and receiving support has become more difficult due to social distancing restrictions. Despite this, mental health is still unbelievably stigmatised and is seen as a taboo topic in many cultures and societies. In order to break this barrier, we must welcome...
A Family Affair
Family is a personal topic. One that is ultimately unique from one individual to the next: a real interpretative subject, not limited to blood but embodied by a feeling, I think. A feeling, as if light barrages out of your heart in laughter. Your smile extends the whole length of the globe: embracing the glow in your cheeks of interweaving concentric circles; tiny suns peering over the streets and alleys of your facial contours. In amongst that literary rubbish, is that family ambience. In short: a ‘cushdy’ feeling. The infamous phenomenon that is Michelle Obama, whom I can’t give a deserving...
Its okay not to be okay...
‘I want to just take a quick second to ask you, Are you really ok? It’s easy to just brush off the question And continue to go about your day. But I see the tiredness in your eyes. I guess it’s not something you need to say. I wish you would know that I am always here, Before it becomes too late.’ Me…Instagram – (@Words.Of.S) As humans, I guess we have the tendency to keep things to ourselves. However, with these exact thoughts, we unknowingly summon the feelings of loneliness and may eventually see ourselves as a burden to ourselves. Why? Why do we continue to inflict this pain upon ourselves...
International Women's Day: Choosing to Challenge
March 8th is celebrated all around the world as International Women's Day, a day where we celebrate women's accomplishments while recognising the progress that still needs to be made, and advocating for gender equality. 2021 is arguably a special year for International Women's Day. We know now that the pandemic has brought out huge inequalities on how disproportionately different groups of people are being affected. Many research studies have shown that women, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds, are being the most impacted by the pandemic. This year's theme is 'choose to...
Difference is a superpower.
In a candid manor: humans are animals. We know that we are mammals; we are aware of our evolutionary origins and how, as animals, we are scientifically classified. My question is: when did this binomial system turn biased? I’d like to pull an ‘uno reverse card’ on stereotypes and dissect them- not dissimilar to their own dissection of society. So, their provenance is unknown and yet their substance is taken so legitimately, that it has placed the societal construct of our world into a shrunken mould. Placed in a cast that doesn’t attempt to repair broken bones or heal wounds- but instead, is...
The tug of war between my cultures
'Neither here nor there.' Growing up as a child of immigrant parents of colour is not unique. So, I am sure my experience is not either. As a young child, I went to a white-majority school and would return home to my brown household. My life juggled between fish and chips and curries and naan. Like many children of immigrants, life was a wonderful collage of my cultural heritage and my everyday life in a Western country. And while I know how incredibly privileged and lucky I am, it was also a constant war over who I was. Growing up, I always saw people who looked like me presented as outdated...
Wasted Time?
Life is filled with time... so why do we feel like we are constantly running out of it? Most of the past few years of my life have been relatively normal (despite the pandemic obviously!) but every so often, this vague sense of pressure accompanies me and it’s all to do with time. Occasionally, it feels like we all have little ticking time bombs floating above our heads and they are whispering that we must make certain accomplishments by a certain point in time. And judging by the countless comments on the Youtube video for the song that perfectly encompasses this feeling of fleeting teenage...
A Race to What Finish Line
Cliché as it might sound at this point, life is returning to normal for many of us living in countries lucky enough to receive vaccines, but after a seismic and catastrophic event in history like the COVID-19 pandemic, one has to pose the question; 'What is normal?' Being 100% honest, I began asking myself this question months ago from a place of pure anxiety. After being cut off from the usual routine of day-to-day life, I adapted in a way that was surprising to me and in a way that felt comfortable. (I recognise the inherent privilege of being able to say that, as I did not have to...
Burnout in the Age of Hustle Culture - A World Mental Health Day Tribute
Good mental health? I hold it hostage. Guardians of my mindset attempt reconcile – But remain limp in bondage. I know I’ve got this. Breathing in deep oxygen I haven’t earned – With nothing in return? I don’t deserve it. It’ll be worth it. Just a few more months running on hope A vision of the future a utopia wrote – I want it. No other option but to keep on slugging. Running on 1%, struggling, Too anxious to stop my mind from whirring, It’s hurting, I’m burning - Out. I’m running away from the dream as if hot coals scold my feet, Looking back at what I have achieved that I can no longer reach...
Speaking another language
From birth, I have spoken English, and English only. It wasn't until recently that I realised the world isn't always going to auto-translate things for me, simply because I was ignorant enough to believe it would. The truth is, as a white, British, native English speaker, it's never been expected of me that I go out of my way to study another's dialect. Fortunately, throughout my life, my parents have repeatedly stressed to me the importance of having a second, or even third language under your belt. My father, with his broken essential-phrase-book dialects, has managed to befriend people from...
The importance of expression
It starts as a gentle murmur at the base of your skull, and soon spreads upwards, quickly consuming your mind and filling your head with an unrelenting buzzing that cannot be halted. Your eyes blur over and the sound disorientates you, you feel light-headed yet at the same time like your head weighs a ton. I personally have always felt that I handle stress very well. Growing up I never got as overwhelmed as my friends seemed to when it came to exams or schoolwork, and I wouldn’t usually panic myself over results or achieving certain things. I used to think I was just a more laid-back and...