Pandemic-triggered pursuits?

It's been more than a year of us being in a pandemic.  For many we are forced to being locked down in our own homes, succumbing to more sedentary lifestyles; while many others are struggling to make ends meet and livelihood worsen by the limitation of mobilities of the others.  I am fortunate to be in the former category and now looking back if the pandemic has triggered me to change my lifestyle; and if it did, is it for the better.  With me on a Sunday morning was Saf and Azima, my lovely guests who always bring the A-game to our conversations.

Pursue of connections and disconnection

We began by sharing what we have been up to during the whole year and more of this global crisis.  Gardening, restarting hobbies like reading and building with lego, were among the common pursuits mentioned. Not surprising, there was also pondering and exploration of relationships we are in, and increased expression of self on the internet.  With all the lifestyle changes, comes new challenges. We were made to reassess the space and time we need for ourselves, relearn how to live with loved ones, reestablish boundaries we have taken for granted when we were able to roam freely.  We also had to find ways to connect and given more opportunities to reconnect with friends and families.

Even more so now to relearn patience and toleration, having to live 24/7 with others (even if they are family).

Pursue of humanity

We are fortunate to also be working in an organisation that thrived during the pandemic, as the need for learning virtually had increased due to all the school closures.  The education gap can be observed widening between learners of different socio-economic statuses, and many are looking for external support to ensure learning continues for their child(ren).  Therefore, we were able to work hard, or perhaps even harder, during this pandemic.  This confinement period also gave us time to be more aware of the communities around us and increased our motivation to look out for one another.  Outside of learning, many are struggling to just survive.  Being able to lend a hand to those in needs is becoming a more frequent activity as well.

Now more than ever, #kitajagakita

Pursuit of happiness

Thinking back on our "adventures" during the pandemic, and also stories from others, we think many are learning and relearning how to self-entertain.  Now we are our most frequent company in our space, so we have to learn how to be with ourselves.  Listening to our own thoughts can be fun or scary, perhaps that's why we are expressing ourselves more online (just like this podcast!).  This could be a good thing, as we can already start practising retirement-life and how we will be filling our time.  Should it be meaningful, purposeful, align with our passion, or just for plain stupid fun? Isn't this is the most opportune time to revisit the concept of hobbies?

We are all just pursuing our happiness, and sometimes others' too!

In the end, we concluded that what is triggered by the pandemic is as simple as the pursuits of happiness!

Watch or listen to our rambles to get a feel of our thoughts, and comment if you can relate or think otherwise.

p/s: Any organisation or people named in this podcast are solely train of thoughts of the speakers and we mean no harm to anyone or anything associated with it. =P