Meditation, mindfulness, pause. We see all the buzz around wellness, “wellness parties” even becoming a thing, but what does the word wellness even mean, especially when we are consumed by the need to constantly keep up and do more? The system of wellness has become strategic and driven by a sense of productivity that provides a sense of surface-level accomplishment, while community-driven fulfillment is pushed to the side.
Athletic matching sets, green juice, fibermaxxing and the millions of self-care micro-trends, have made the act of taking care of yourself feel intentional and calculated — driven by a market whose campaign we have all been roped into. The root of this is the glorification of productivity and the act of being “busy,” even when the point of recharge is for all this to take a backseat for a moment. Productivity has become such a goal, that we are consumed by its artificial comfort. With a constant need to produce, and contribute to save ourselves from getting left behind, we have become afraid to take uncharted, unintentional pauses. This has led to wellness becoming another task, with the need to carefully plan out that mindful moment.
Say you’ve had a long day with a ton of things running in your brain. Do you find yourself continuing to work or put stuff away for a bit and choose to begin with a fresher start a little later? Let’s go with the second option for now. What do you see yourself doing if you make that choice? I would, for instance, pick a snack, and try to have a small silly dance break. In all seriousness, though, the thoughts would still be running in the back of my mind. I would check to see what’s next on my to-do and work on it. This inability to learn to not to take a complete pause and step back, is the source of burnout, something we all admit we face. Weirdly, this is the source of our drive to do more. The talk around glorification of spending all-nighters, overcommitting, and the appearance of being busy gives us the opportunity to further delay facing the complete effects of burnout created by the urge to keep with the rat race.
I picture an overfilling cup, with water being poured in, without a chance for the cup to stabilize the water at the rim. As long as the tap is left open, the cup will let water in, but at the cost of the water that was already inside. What do we end up letting out, when we overcommit, and strive to get busier by the second? This trend in “business” and the appearance of productivity, can greatly impact our social health as well. There is a growing trend in friendships disconnecting, many being based on catching up rather than being in it together. Disconnection deteriorates wellness, something an intentional 72-step skincare routine we’ve fallen to, giving the illusion of self-care, will not address. There is a growing need to relearn the art of building, and consistently maintaining connections with the people around us. This manifests because of the baseless drive to fill up calendars and commit, in pursuit of a stable future.
But how lost are we getting in the future that we are forgetting to stay grounded in the present? That water is indeed being let go off from the cup. Let us begin to create a whirlpool that prevents the water from gushing out, and couch rot with the old friend, hold that door open because being 30 seconds late is never that deep, smile because that will not take any precious time off our calendars. Are we rebranding wellness yet?