Baking pics, work from home posts & fitness videos — Are these lockdown trends an overkill?
Overdoing kills, but as humans, we have this tendency to overdo whatever we feel is working for us. Whether it is following the same steps to make a curry every day or driving through the same route to reach office, our belief in our experience weighs above all other external factors. One change in the routine and it disturbs the entire process, creating a sense of disruption within us. Patterns define the way we work and have been working well for us for a long time now. However, overdoing certain things can be stressful and its outcomes irreversible. Therefore, we need to know where to draw the line.
How much is too much?
Let’s take the example of today’s times. The global pandemic has forced everybody to stay home and entertain ourselves, and the entire world is following a pattern. While on the one hand there’s an overkill of baking cakes; on the other, there are self-help and fitness videos by people who have found this new way to see themselves engaged through fitness. And then there are poets, singers, and writers, who are penning lockdown diaries, baking stories, knitting skills, and whatnot. Let’s not forget the innumerable household chores and hairstyling videos posted by prominent celebrities.
There’s no denying these videos keep us engaged and entertained, but somewhere it is creating a sense of emptiness in some people and arousing a sense of competition in others. Even during lockdown time, we are trying to prove ourselves to the world.
The world might have slowed down, but the rat race is still on.
Giving in to the pressure of social media
This lockdown has given a new meaning to staying home experiences. Thanks to social media, there’s an additional pressure to show our skills and seek validity. Even before the cake is out of the oven, it makes its way onto the Instagram feed and stories. One person’s experience has become another person’s challenge and this trend of sharing experience continues. In the past few weeks, the amount of baking stories, #WFH articles, and fitness videos that have made their way into social media has eclipsed every other topic on earth. Suddenly, there seems to be no political unrest, no social issues, no global warming that seeks our attention and action. This global pandemic has transformed every social platform into one — the place to share our lockdown experience. Networking platforms such as LinkedIn which are usually filled with selfies, corporate awards, and digital marketing hacks have shifted their focus to #WorkFromHome, #LockdownDiaries, and online learning.
Although work from home phenomenon has been there for over a decade now, suddenly, there is an overflow of articles on how to work productively from home, how to manage time and how are men helping their partners wash utensils in the kitchen. In a day, we see at least 10 posts where people are sharing their official video call pictures. These stories of never-ending webinars and zoom calls with colleagues have taken digital socializing to the next level. Now there’s an added pressure to join call invites from long lost colleagues, schoolmates, collegemates, and family members. Suddenly staying in touch has become trendy too. Till about a couple of months back, these people were not even a part of our lives and suddenly we are bonding, and over what? Corona and lockdown. Is this the outcome of lockdown, peer pressure, or mere boredom? Whatever it may be, it is certainly trending, isn’t it?
So, what’s the new overkill?
Two months into lockdown and we are already tired of eating cakes, drinking Dalgona coffee, and household chores. But as they say, one must stay relevant and continue to post pictures and articles to stay in the race. With social media platforms overflowing with conversations around lockdown, it feels as if you haven’t done anything if you haven’t created your version of Dalgona coffee, shared your WFH experience, or taken an online course.
As the author of Wealth of Words, Amit Kalantri says, “Too much light for the eyes is as useless as darkness.” Soon, we will all run out of flour to bake cakes, canvas to create a masterpiece and the will to share our lockdown stories. Then something new will come, a new trend will be set and the world will follow suit.
Let’s overdo goodness
We have been overdoing certain things for generations now and nature has been pointing it out to us in its own ways over the last few years. However, it was this major jolt that has brought the world to a standstill. All the noise and pollution we were creating seem to have disappeared. Today, when we step out, we realize, we can after all drive without honking, breathe fresh air even in crowded cities and lead a peaceful life. Let’s reflect on these changes and overdo goodness for a change. If overdoing is what we do best, why not overdo what’s best for us? As Ayn Rand rightly said, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.”
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