What I Miss About Life Before
And what I won’t miss about life right now in the future
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It’s rare that we get as much of a chance to step back and take time to reflect on our lives as we have done this year. I don’t know about you, but 2020 has given me the opportunity to reevaluate and take stock of what makes me happy and what’s truly important to me. What brings me joy? What do I want to leave behind in 2020? Who do I want to be when we come out of this? When you get a chance, I’d urge you to grab a pen and paper and sit down and really think about these things, you may surprise yourself when you see what you end up scribbling.
Below is a list of what I miss about life before, and what I won’t miss about life right now when all of this is over.
What I miss: the feeling of a lazy weekend
What I won’t miss: every day blurring into one
What I miss: people watching in public
What I won’t miss: having to see everyone through a screen
What I miss: cooking for enjoyment and pleasure
What I won’t miss: the chore cooking has become
What I miss: the excitement of planning a holiday
What I won’t miss: the feeling of being stuck in one place
What I miss: a varied news cycle
What I won’t miss: feeling burnt out and overwhelmed watching the news
What I miss: spur of the moment outings and adventures
What I won’t miss: having to plan and book everything days if not weeks in advance
What I miss: not being afraid
What I won’t miss: overthinking and over analyzing my every move
What I miss: the good kind of busy where you don’t realise time flying by
What I won’t miss: time going super slowly
What I miss: getting dressed for fun and experimenting with clothing
What I won’t miss: wearing the same pyjamas and joggers on rotation
What I miss: catch-ups with colleagues over a tea break
What I won’t miss: zoom fatigue
What I miss: the excitement and possibilities of a creative career
What I won’t miss: the unimaginable suffering the arts and creative industries have had to face
What I miss: feeling optimistic about the future
What I won’t miss: feeling like the doom and gloom will never end
There’s no snapping of the fingers and turning back time. As much as I wish we could undo what’s gone down in 2020, what’s happened has happened and there’s no going back. Maybe it took for this crisis to happen for us to really get to know ourselves, maybe getting hit hard by life made us understand what we really want from it. Reevaluate your circumstances, prioritise what’s truly important to you, and above all else remember to take care of yourself throughout. Life may never go back to the way it once was - but that doesn’t have to be such a bad thing, does it?
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see more of what I’m up to, and I’ll see you same time same place next week!
Catch you soon,
J’Nae
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
- This article by The Guardian on the rise and fall of Topshop is worth a read. Topshop is a high-street favourite, it was one of my favourite places to roam as a teenager, and the Oxford Circus branch was my first legit job (I lasted a mere 3 months haha).
WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING:
- This mini documentary follows a young girl and her parent as they navigate the difficult, harrowing, and beautiful journey of a parent in gender transition.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
- I'm so late with this one and I don’t know how I missed it, but I love this song Purple Emoji by Ty Dolla $ign ft J. Cole.
WHAT’S CAUGHT MY EYE:
- I’m a big fan of vintage and colourful interiors, this Instagram account @_homedreaming gives us a lesson in how to refresh our spaces with a playful and funky twist.