Am I a sad person? Society nowadays refers to Generation Z as a “sad generation with happy pictures” but I wouldn’t describe myself that way. In fact, I’ve discovered more happiness this year than previously. Weird, right? Especially with all the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) we are all guilty of. Yes, pictures are important but demonstrating achievement on Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok isn’t my goal. I focused on the fact that I need to start living for me. Trust me that’s far more important.
Allow me to familiarize you with my experience:
Being bored at home I had enough. I decided to take a break and aimed to reduce my “on screen time”. As a social butterfly I needed some human interaction! I missed it! I reflected on the importance of bonding and relationships. Showing my emotions, being confident, being me. People hide the real them thinking they can impress others but in reality, you are just letting yourself down.
I think for a long time I had forgotten the importance of friendship, caring and showing empathy to others because we were so caught up with our day to day activities. I actually had meaningful conversations, I laughed, I cried but most of all I connected with people around me. That sense of wanting to share, speaking about your feelings and being spontaneous.
I got the chance to spend time with my parents for a few months, which I haven’t done since I was 13 and went to boarding school. I’ve moved to several places in my life and got the chance to become and independent and organized very early. I reconnected with my origins and found myself reminiscing about how stress free, energetic and optimistic I was before. I wanted to find myself again. So, I travelled! My last adventure I woke up at 5 a.m. to go hiking which I never thought I would as I am usually the type of person to be heading home that time from a quality night partying. Sleep is significant, but it's also overrated; you only need beauty sleep. I did things I am proud of (I volunteered delivering meals during Covid-19), things I never thought I could accomplish, I defeated my fear of heights (went climbing). I made memories and crazy stories I can share with the people I love most. I made this time, my time. I took advantage of what I learned last year with the most significant being that unfortunately we never know what’s going to happen.
Before the pandemic we had both the real and virtual world at our hands. However, the barrier Covid-19 created for us left us only with our screens. We had plenty of time to catch up on Netflix shows despite the increasing prices. Social media took over our emotions and we lost a part of us with that. It was hard for it not to affect our lives. Mental health is of great significance and we should prioritize it. The sanitary measures put us in a box and for me it was hard to stay motivated but even more impossible to feel confident. Yet, I managed to get inspired, become more ambitious and focused on my work. I learned how to manage my time properly and balance school and travelling. I decided I needed a big change in my life, which included moving to HIM. I made this decision because I wanted to develop my knowledge about the hospitality industry and luxury brands. I stopped getting influenced by others opinion regarding what’s best for me and decided to live in the present.
Listen, it’s all about how you use your time, make experiences. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Allow yourself to feel, disappointment to ecstatic happiness, we can’t just hide behind our phones. Leave your comfort zone! Experiment with your ideas!
Our generation is ambitious, creative and longing for a changed, better and unprejudiced world. In another blog post, my colleague Varvara Stradina mentioned “OUR GENERATION IS THE ONE THAT VALUES EQUALITY”. I think we all bonded over wanting to be our best selves rather than hide behind this public identity we have created for ourselves. Generation Z, we are entrepreneurs, explorers, multitaskers and full of life so we shouldn’t be afraid to live here and now.
On an endnote, I wanted to remind and convince you that we are so much more than we show, so motivated to conquer the world! So, do exactly that!
I would love to hear your viewpoint regarding how Covid-19 impacted your life in the comments!
Author: Ms. Yana Tumbeva, Business and Hospitality Bachelor Student at Hotel Institute Montreux (HIM), from Bulgaria