Hey lash babes, 

It's your girl Em 💙

As someone who genuinely really enjoys their own company and being by themselves, a 6 week lockdown alone being thrust upon me wasn’t actually as instantly deflating as it may have been to some. But you can love your own company more than you love when your Uber eats delivery arrives ahead of schedule, 6 weeks is a long time without any other face to face interaction and it’s going to take its toll. So here are a few things I have learnt that have made doing this alone that little bit easier  - and you know what, a lot of these things can actually apply to those who aren’t doing it alone, and some even for life in general.

  

1️⃣

Write something on your to do list every day that makes you happy. 

This is a tip I got from my former housemate before she abandoned me to go across the border as soon as Stage 4 struck - you may know her as our very own, very wise - Jess Fairlie. This isn’t to suggest that you must have an extensive to do list every day that you must achieve. You can have one item on your list for the day - as long as it includes this one. Include something in your every day that is going to make you happy. That might be a walk, it might be dancing in front of the mirror - whatever it may be, set it for yourself and do it.

 

2️⃣ 

 

Look forward to what you see others doing on social media.

How many times have you read ‘stay off social media’, ‘remove your interstate friends off social media’ and ‘put down your phone’. I don’t know about you, but half of my job is on social media. It’s not as easy as putting down my phone. And deleting my interstate friends? How ridiculous. I already can’t see them as it is, now I have to completely remove them from my socials as well? I think instead of this advice that is hanging around us, what we really need to be doing is changing our mind set. Looking at our interstate friends out at bars, the races or merely outdoors for 61 minutes, can be turned from ‘I’m so jealous this sucks’, to ‘Look, they’re beating this thing. Look at the life that waits for us when we’re in their position. It’s so close I can taste it. Our neighbouring state is doing all of these things and I genuinely hope my beautiful friends there are having SO much fun, because if I can’t be at least they can.’

 

 

3️⃣

 

Look good, feel good - and do it all for yourself.

My favourite night of the week is the one I set aside to take a long ass shower, wash and put a treatment in my hair, shave all the various body parts, chuck on a layer of fake tan and do a full skin care routine. These are all of the things that make me feel good. I feel fresh and clean, I give myself a blow wave and I do all of these things even though the only person that’s going to see it is the guy at the coffee shop. But I feel good - I feel like I have my life together. I check myself out, hype myself up and I’m instantly in a good mood. Long gone are the days we do these things to impress anyone else. We are our own biggest fans and we will do it because it makes us feel good. So do something that makes you feel like the queen that you are, whether it’s painting your nails, washing your hair or wearing your favourite pants. Do it for you. 

 

   

4️⃣

  

Move your body and do workouts… or, don’t.

I personally am sick of feeling like shit seeing everyone with their yoga mats and zoom personal training classes. I hate working out at home, I will never be motivated to do it and if you’re with me - this is where we stop feeling like shit for not doing it. I’m not saying don’t do it - if you love a home workout and you’re working out everyday, you do you and you should be proud! I’m just saying, if you don’t and you feel like you’re forcing yourself, you also do you. You still should be proud. Do what your body needs, if that is seeing the sun come out and deciding to go for a walk, go for that walk. If it’s sitting on the couch watching Netflix, then I recommend watching Selling Sunset - great show.

 

  

5️⃣

  

Wake up early and stay in a routine… or, don’t.

If you aren’t working at the moment and don’t need to set an alarm - you know what? Don’t. Make the most of this time waking up when your body wants to. Whether that’s at 6am or 1pm, this is the perfect opportunity to give your body that well earned rest and recharge. Again, give your body what it needs, whether that’s a structured routine or going with the flow - don’t feel like there is a right or wrong choice. 

 
  

6️⃣

  

Find a hobby... or, don’t. 

 

Our feeds are filled with people baking, painting and making candles after finding new isolation hobbies. If there is something that you have always wanted to try but never had the time - now is the time! I, for example, always wanted to paint (with absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever), so I bought a paint set... but some nights, all I want to do is sit on my phone mindlessly scrolling Tik Tok and I spent weeks scolding myself for it. But you know what, you need to do what your soul needs. If that is sitting on social media, binge watching netflix or playing video games, do that and don’t you dare feel wrong about it. You don’t have to find a brand new skill or hidden talent - you don’t have to be doing something worthy of posting an insta story about at all times. Whatever it is that you want to do, or need to do to pass the time… do that.

 

 

7️⃣ 

  

Zoom/FaceTime/Calls…

We are so incredibly blessed to have these forms of communication in our life and at our fingertips. With the touch of a few buttons you can be face to face with a friend, a family member or even go on a virtual date. And it’s the best we’re going to get right now - so use it if you want to use it. But if it makes you feel worse, if it makes you miss that person more, if you aren’t in the mental space to talk to anyone - you’re allowed to not answer or reschedule or not do a zoom call with your entire extended family. Call someone when you want to call them - if it’s going to make you feel worse in that moment then you don’t have to. But I do highly recommend having a conversation with another human at least once a day - either via call, text, facetime, however you want. It is always beneficial to have a little bit of human interaction when you spend so much time on your own.

  

 

8️⃣

 

Eat whatever the f*ck you want.

 

Hands up if you have felt personally victimised by isolation weight gain. 🙋🏽‍♀️ Let’s have a deeper look into eating like shit in isolation. Is it because we’re bored? Yes. Is it because our mental capacity may not be able to withhold the process of creating and cooking a meal? Likely. Is it because we have very limited access to anything good at the moment, that Uber Eats is one of the last things left that we can still enjoy? Valid.
Look, whatever the reason may be - it’s okay. No one is expecting you to have abs right now. No one is expecting you to be saving money by cooking your own meals. If your soul needs to call the local pizza place seven days a week, listen to it. If it wants to cook, listen to it. Don’t punish yourself for whatever choice you make. 
  

 

9️⃣

  

The ‘Intimate Partners’ loophole is not an excuse to text your ex.

Just don’t do it, ok? 

 

    

🔟

 

3 Deep Breaths. 

 

If you are ever feeling overwhelmed, close your eyes, take 3 deep breaths and think about all you have achieved so far. How far you have made it alone, how well you have done, how little you have to go. Think about the first things you are going to do when isolation is over and get excited. The day will come soon. 

 

 

 

What I’m trying to get across right now is that we’re experiencing something we have never experienced before (and hopefully will never experience again). Right now, the most important thing to be concerned about is yourself and your mental health. You might not be adding a lot to your savings account, eating the best, working out the most, being the most productive… but you know what? That’s ok. Because we can worry about all of those things when the time is right. Right now, you need to do what’s best for yourself in this present moment and when you’re doing that there is no right or wrong way. 

If all else fails, just DM us on our Instagram, and i'll send you cute picks of my puppy sausage dog, Douglas 💙

Lots of love,

Your girl Em xo