Tag: opinion

Got a Case of Cabin Fever?

Author: Matthew Lee ’22

Image Credit: Pixabay via Pexels.com

Zoom fatigue is real, and us staying locked in quarantine doesn’t help the case. These days, it is more important than ever to prioritize mental health and stress management. It can, however, be hard to find any breathing room amidst our steadily compiling assignments and deadlines. But self-care doesn’t require fancy equipment or programs. In fact, lifting your mood and lowering anxiety can simply be done by spending time outdoors.

According to registered psychologist Dr. Lynne M. Kostiuk, “Nature…slows us down, lets us pay attention to different things, and let go of others. It gives us a chance to just enjoy ‘being’.”

Research has shown that as little as 20-30 minutes of exposure to nature a day can significantly reduce your cortisol levels, leading to a less tense and more positive mindset. Your memory and ability to focus improve, and your future self and grades will thank you. Exposure to natural light and fresh air revitalize your body, and it helps give your mind the break it needs. It doesn’t have to be a long, grand hike either – just a walk around the neighborhood will do the trick.

Got a case of cabin fever? It’s time for a change of scenery. How about taking a walk today?

Matthew Lee ’22 is a Peer Health Adviser (PHA) for First College.

It’s Hard to Be Green Right Now

Author: Wesley Wiggins ’21

This year has been collectively deemed the worst by most people around the world. With the coronavirus limiting our mobility, racial justice at the front of our minds, a foreboding presidential election around the corner, and the effects of climate change ramping up it is hard to not feel like there is too much to deal with this year. For me, this has manifested itself as a severe lack of motivation in my daily life and has crippled many habits that I have tried to form this year. This lack of motivation has also come with the feeling that I have to do more than ever because it looks like I have more free time than ever. This has caused increased feelings of disappointment in myself because I always think I can and should be doing more while ignoring the fact that I’m dealing with a tremendous amount of loss. This all results in a feedback loop that makes trying new things really difficult and at points demoralizing. 

Example of my vegetarian lunches. This one is roasted vegetables mixed with scrambled eggs. Photo Credit: Wesley Wiggins

Earlier this year, I attempted to reduce my meat consumption for both ethical and sustainability reasons, and for the first few weeks, it was going well. I started limiting my meat consumption to once a week for a month in May and continued through the month of June. But at some point, I slipped up and started having meat multiple times a week. By the end of August, it was as if I had never tried to change my diet at all which led to the unforgiving cycle of beating myself up about it. But the truth is while we all have a personal responsibility to take care of the Earth that does not mean it is going to be easy or that you will get it right on the first try.

Recently, I’ve tried to take things slower by sticking to non-meat lunches and breakfast while being more conscious about what I eat for dinner. The biggest change I’ve made is not setting myself an all-or-nothing rule about what to eat and starting to look at sustainability less as a lifestyle and more as a series of choices that I can make to heal the Earth and ensure a better life for future generations.

There are a lot of systems set in place in our society that make it hard to be sustainable. Pandemic or not, we can’t beat ourselves up for slipping up. Being sustainable in our daily lives is a choice we have to make every day. Even though we slip up and make mistakes we can still look at our lives today and make a new choice to be more sustainable.