From being a haven and a place where we would want to return to at the end of the day, our homes, for many of us, have changed to being the quintessential place in the world. With community living bringing everything we need under one roof, let’s look at what it takes to create comfort, control, and calm in and around where we live.
Staying organized in chaos
As a human race, we would have experienced how we have absolutely no control over what happens to us. We have come face to face with reality and now we are doing everything we can to have a sense of power over our surroundings and our own lives.
One way of having a sense of power is to find peace in structure, in staying organised, in simple things like – eating meals at the same time each day and being able to spend time between work breaks with our children or loved ones, maintaining a routine from the beginning of the day until we call it a night. When we get into a rhythm of our daily routine, we regain a feeling of purpose and set personal boundaries.
When home becomes everything
Work, school, hangout café, gym, shopping for groceries, organising a special event. Community living has made our home a place where we’ve got everything we need. Our home was only a place where we ended our day, where we had to go to after finishing our work outside, shopped for groceries at our local supermarket, and visited the doctor if needed. Our home itself has gone through a transition from being a host to housing its residents to adapting to a constant spree of activities.
Creating rituals
Most people we have met have shared the rituals that were followed in early lockdown and continuing into post lockdown, as essential – whether for bringing into action the sense of structure, for improving health and immunity, or just to find a healthy escape by learning new hobbies.
Prabha, for example, has created her routine to draw the line between home and work, by cooking lunch and sitting with a cup of kashaya at her window while practicing gratitude for everything she has. Vijay has traded partying and hitting the gym for beginning new ways to work from home, adopting that pet he has always wanted, and enjoying himself in outdoor workouts. Meanwhile, Manju makes space for herself outside her super-active household with time to introspect and reflect during an evening walk. Remarkably, all three have told us that they see immense value in these rituals that they have imbibed in their daily routine post lockdown as well.
Three ways to create rituals
So, by now we have established the fact that rituals are important whether we are working from home or in a hybrid manner, or from an office location – it does not matter! Having said that, how can we set or create these routines?
Here are a few to get you to start thinking:
Pay very close attention to your day
Before you begin, know whether you are a day or a night person. Basis that you could set a time to rise and fall into bed or include a form of self-care. Look real close to make sure whatever it is that you add and where in the 24hrs you could include the ritual, is manageable and realistic. One thing to consider is, what time of the day do you feel most productive or most energetic? Would you dedicate that part of being more energetic to your work and the rest to your family or vice versa? And finally, think about what rituals you can include that would help you soothe and relax. Could be a swim or a match of tennis at the Club House, or a brisk walk along the walking track. Remember that creating rituals is all about creating ease and calm into your day and not working you up. Answering these questions will help you know what works best for you.
Find what’s missing
Reeling from the effects of the pandemic, people still are struggling to establish a connection with others. In a day and age of establishing boundaries to safeguard your time and energy, and also want meaningful connection, living in a community allows you to balance both these needs. Examine closely what it is that you need so that you can actively fill the gaps you see. Since establishing new rituals bring us into a state of calm more quickly – they are most likely to stick as well.
Set smart goals.
When you have a buffet of hobbies being virtually bombarded, many of us are already overwhelmed when all we want to do is less, not more. So it is never about how many but what you want from the rituals and hobbies you choose from. If you don’t know or are confused about what is realistic for you and where to start from, look or scroll up to read the first two points because paying close attention to your day and finding out what’s missing will automatically motivate you to choose the hobbies and rituals that talk to you! And this golden tip for you to take it or leave it: kindly ignore what the world claims to be doing on social media. What works for you is different from what it could do for others – so keep it personal, simple, and smart.
