Half of the entire world went on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of where we came from, we can be sure that every person’s psyche was affected somehow. You might have been one of the people who had to work from home and limit your interactions with others during the quarantine, and you find that your confidence and self-esteem took a hit. If so, there are plenty of activities that can help you get back on track.
Here are some ideas and activities to help you get back to the swing of things to meet people and live your life in joy and confidence.
Start (safely) sharing more on social media
If you have a knack for writing or photography, why not try sharing more on social media? You might have been the type to never share before the pandemic or had to stop once the lockdowns began because there was nothing about your life to share. If so, now may be a good time to start opening up more, especially if you trust the people you are connected with on social media.
Why not try becoming a food blogger who shares restaurant or delivery reviews, or maybe a skincare product reviewer? Sharing your thoughts on things can be a simple but powerful tool for putting yourself out there.
Here are some tips for ensuring that you do this safely:
- Before you begin sharing snippets of your life or thoughts, consider going through your friends’ lists. Don’t hesitate to remove people you don’t know or are not comfortable sharing your life with. If not, you can play around with privacy tools to ensure that your posts only reach people you want them to reach.
- Disable geotagging on your social media accounts and location services on your phone. In general, try not to post content (pictures and captions) that also might strangers an idea about where you might be at any given moment. Failing to do this was the reason Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. While you may not be at the level of her wealth and celebrity, it can’t hurt to not disclose your current location to strangers on the internet.
- Don’t post anything that might compromise your sensitive information like your address, credit card information, contact numbers, email addresses, and others. If you have kids, don’t post exteriors of their school or places they frequent.
Once you’ve gotten the above down pat, there’s no reason why you can’t start sharing more about your life. Be authentic because putting forth a sanitized version of your life might create an opposite effect instead of boosting your self-esteem.
Slowly start meeting people again
If you stopped physical interactions since the pandemic started, now is a good time to slowly start meeting people face-to-face again, especially if all of you have been vaccinated. You don’t need to rush this process; you can start by meeting one friend for coffee and then bumping it up to two, then three, and before you know it, you might find yourself confident enough to attend holiday parties as the end of the year approaches.
Don’t feel pressured to get back into attending big gatherings immediately; allow yourself some time to get your confidence back in terms of socializing and talking to people in person, and you can do this one friend at a time.
Keep doing your pandemic hobby
If you started gardening, painting, photography, and other productive hobbies during the pandemic, keep at it. Experts say that all of our constructive pursuits during the height of the crisis might be doing more good than we know, especially in terms of improving our stress levels, heart rates, and moods.
Anything that allows you to work through your hands can be a great way to improve your sense of self-worth because nurturing something and watching it grow through our hard work can make us feel good about ourselves. Whether it’s a pet or a garden, a piece of art, or a virtual book club, you cannot underestimate the value of building something from the ground up. Do not neglect your pandemic hobbies just because the world is opening up again—the only downside of the crisis is that we can take the good that we learned to become the healthiest versions of ourselves.
Our self-esteem might have taken a hit during the crisis because we were not wired to stay indoors and lacked physical interactions for long periods. Be gentle with yourself as you readjust to society and enjoy the process of reconnecting with yourself and the people you love the most, no matter how slow it may be.
