One of the zeitgeists (the common spirit or vibe) of our time is the quest to be “the best version of you”.
When you look through your social media, you’ll see it everywhere.
You’ll see such a chase for fulfilment through achievement: to create more, be more, become more. More is better!
More is the vibe. Such is the emphasis on the hack, to optimise, to squeeze every moment and make it useful, slacking off and doing nothing doesn’t seem to have a time or a place.
Relaxing, in some parts of the wellness space, has become “recovery”. Ready to get after it again, you go-getter?
In other parts, nurturing will still involve difference and doing and a particular lifestyle … looking after yourself is defined for you, not by you. It’s a club you have to join, a regime you have to buy into, a smelly candle you have to buy. Oh, and your chakras will constantly need balancing.
“You could DIE tomorrow!” “What are you doing with your life????” “Make the most of your one precious life!”
And what a powerful reminder to stop procrastinating, to stop delaying, and start living.
But this is also the age of rampant anxiety and depression. There is huge fear: that we’re missing out, that we’re not enough, that we’re just not up to being the ideal superwoman or superman.
“Live your best life!” the social media influencers cry, yet are they? Or are they all wrapped up in a game, a torturous game of chasing the amazing life – as long as it gets the likes/followers …?
And again, I’m not suggesting you waste your time. I’m suggesting you are aware of the spirit of the age, the story that is interwoven into just about every image and post and sponsored content and media you are exposed to, not just those you consciously “consume” – and how it affects you.
I’m suggesting you are aware of the expectations you place on yourself when you soak in the social environment of what everyone else is doing and saying.
I’m suggesting you define things for yourself.
Start now. I can't think of a better question than this:
What is success to you? (With the key being the words, “to you”.)
How can you realise enough, even in the pursuit of more?
How can you claim back the enjoyment of simply being alive?
Let more start from this.