Rest and Renewal

Image: Getty/countryliving.com

​By Zara Corbett

​I am a firm believer that every season in life teaches us something new, and this season of quarantines, travel restrictions and furlough has certainly been an education for me. I am sure you can agree that in the past year we have learnt the true sense of change – sometimes for the better. Personally, I have had a rare chance to slow down. When the Coronavirus outbreak hit Europe, I was halfway through my gap year and nearing the end of a six-month term in France: a whirlwind of exploring, learning, hiking and skiing that was suddenly cut short, although admittedly only by two weeks. After two cancelled flights, some tears and a bag of Lays at Lyon airport, I touched down into the UK lockdown, which ended up being a bigger culture shock than moving to France with little more than an A level in French and a pair of hiking boots. Adjusting to a quiet life took me longer than I like to admit; like many others I had gone from 100 to zero overnight. However, this partial withdrawal from society has had its bonuses – not least the chance to reset. 

Focusing on our spiritual and physical priorities has never felt more important than during a time of global crisis. It is only natural to care more deeply about our family and friends, but let’s not forget about us: allowing ourselves the chance to reset and recover from the daily hubbub of life is vital to our wellbeing and our relationships with others. It is often in the moments when we are most restful and calm that we allow ourselves to renew our outlook on life. I often find myself wondering whether I really want to go back to a time when everything is so chaotic, having to micro-manage every second of the day in order to fit everything in. Have you, like me, learnt the value of slowing down? As a young adult in a fast-paced world I can’t help but feel as though we are on the verge of a cultural renewal with more awareness of what really matters: communication with our loved ones, our health – individual and collective – and our precious planet. Generation Z are hungry for change. Thanks to Greta Thunberg, Marcus Rashford and Malala Yousafzai, we have role models who are realistic, connected and ready. Slowing down doesn’t mean being lazy or passive about important issues, it means changing our pace and expending our energy on the things that really count. It’s about being well-informed citizens who value sustainability, not just in economics and fashion, but in time management and consciousness.

Undoubtedly our sense of identity has been shaken through these tough times, so we must not underestimate the power of renewal. Neither should we underestimate the importance of time as a means of reassessing our purpose in order to make a targeted impact on the things that matter most to us. The lockdown has given us a chance to realign our priorities going forward and ask ourselves how we will progress: will I encourage fast fashion for the sake of convenience or will I seek treasures in charity shops and on Depop? Will I revert back to rushed evenings or will I continue to find new recipes, try new things and share meals with my family? The thought of going back to ‘real’ life is full of choices. Do we choose to reset our mindset or stick to the train-train quotidien of the last decade? As an eternal optimist, my prayer is that we can all put these past eighteen months behind us but also bear in mind the positive things it has brought us: time with our families, the opportunity to learn new things, and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to reset our priorities and renew our lives with a refreshed outlook. For some of us, it’s about regaining an identity taken from us by the pandemic. For others, it’s picking up where you left off. Just remember that we have the chance to contribute to a decisive decade – will you choose to reset the clock and renew your purpose?