A good time to change your world view?
I smiled inside to myself last week when I saw Anna Wintour the long-time editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and the alleged inspiration for the movie ‘the devil wears Prada’ wear sweatpants and a jumper.
She had previously promised to never wear them and apparently caused ripples in her fan network and the fashion world when she did. Things are changing for her. This seemingly major shift for her, while probably a lifestyle habit for most of us, prompted reflection in me. I noted she still had her sunglasses though.
EXTERNAL CHANGE
When things change in the world outside of us, this challenges us to change if we want to stay relevant and maintain our wellbeing or achieve any objective whether related to business or personal goals and dreams. For most of us there have been dramatic changes to our lifestyle with so many of us spending most of our time in our own home.
The 2 km limit and other drastic measures have stopped many of the routines and rituals we had that contributed to personal wellness. A trip to the hair dresser, a walk by the beach, an in person yoga or meditation class, a trip to the gym or lunch with friends are now happy memories or things we are looking forward to but not things that contribute to our daily wellbeing.
So if you are not doing those things that you contributed to your wellbeing, what have you replaced them with? For myself, I am enjoying daily walks and regular zoom sessions with people. I am reconnecting with people I haven’t spoken to in years. I am writing a little more than usual. I am also spending more time learning a few things and meditating. Others I speak to are baking and cooking more. Some have converted their sitting room to a mini-gym. Others are following online yoga, zumba or exercise classes.
The important thing for each of us, is to replace what you can no longer do with something that you can. I even tried board games through zoom last week. I hear of others taking up arts and crafts and knitting or using the time to learn new skills. Anything that helps with our happiness, health and sense of being comfortable in our life enhances our wellbeing so there is big scope.
OUR VALUES
The other thing that I have noted that is changing is our values both individually and as a society. What feels important now is quite different to what seemed important 2 months ago. What were you worrying about or what were you thinking about most in February and what is going on in your mind today?
I have watched with interest the different discussions in online newspapers and magazines. There are new heroes emerging. I read about children sending letters to bin-men in England yesterday. The celebrity culture is not so prized. People are valuing real life heroes like the former soldier in the UK that turns 100 on April 30 who raised over 26 million pounds by walking around his garden.
When we spend time engaged in what is important to us or doing things we related to what value, we feel good. When we spend time doing things that contribute to our sense of general happiness, health comfort, we feel well and better.
COVID-19 has prompted external and internal changes.
Even Anna Wintour, the ever glamourous and perhaps most powerful influencer in global fashion is changing her viewpoint. If you haven’t recalibrated how you look at your world, now is a great time to do so.
Calodagh McCumiskey designs and delivers bespoke wellbeing at work programmes to grow people and companies. She also offers regular meditation classes, personal development workshops and wellbeing consultations to help people thrive 053 9140655 | info@spiritualearth.com | www.spiritualearth.com