Comparison is the thief of joy

I keep asking myself if I'm using my time the way I'd lie. As we enter week whatever of social distancing and staying home, it's hard not to fall into the trap of social media. Whether it's because you miss interacting with others and want to see what friends are up to or you just have extra time to kill by scrolling through Instagram, social media is more present than ever right now.

And while that can be good in many ways (I think Instagram is slowly moving away from perfectly curated snapshots of life), it's easier than ever to compare ourselves to others right now. The playing field is level: there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and most of us are staying at home now — how someone else is using their time at home can make you feel insecure about your own approach. I've been working on not letting that comparison impact me ... though it's definitely a work in progress. I've seen so many sourdough starters, paintings, finished books, household projects, fitness goals reached — you name it.

Those are all wonderful uses of time and I applaud people who are using their extra time at home to do any or all of those things.

But it's not the only option. For some people, you may need to use this time to relax and to cope, maybe sleeping in more or listening to podcasts while doing little things around the house. For others, maybe you need this time to reconnect, talking to friends on the phone, bonding over a new series on Netflix. The point is, not everyone is in a space where they can come out on the other side of this pandemic with three new talents and a completed to-do list. If you need time to just exist and to come to terms with all of this, that's ok. And if you come out of this with the next great novel, well that's good too.

The whole thing makes me think of the nature of spring — flowers are blooming, showing brilliant colors that were absent for months but are welcome to stick around. Then some plants were already where they needed to be, growing year-round at their own pace, just happy for another day of sunlight and water.

It's ok if you're a succulent, and it's ok if you're that blossoming flower. Whichever you need to be in this time, just don't forget to take little moments in the sunlight from time to time. It'll help.