The pandemic came as an unprecedented shock that forced us to hit the pause button on our incredibly chaotic lives. It was a time of anxiety and distress on one hand and self reflection and realization on the other. It forced us to take a step back and actually evaluate our lives instead of monotonously following the same robotic routine day after day.
During a time where we were forced to stay indoors, virtual platforms thrived like never before. TikTok trends had connected people all over the world, even if it was just through simple acts like making Dalgona coffee and taking pictures with solar lamps.
We aspirationally sat in our rooms, making resolutions to become the best versions of ourselves, with people from all across the world bonding over the smallest of things. We were making an effort to adjust to a new normal. And in the midst of all this discovery, we saw the re-emergence of an age-old phenomena into public discourse: self-care.
Self care, as we know it, is a privileged iteration of what was originally started as a method of health maintenance by women at a time when healthcare and wellness gave precedence to upper-class men. It originated as a form of self-preservation that focused on improving the regimes of those who had been failed by the existing health systems.
However, in today’s world self-care seems to have become a chore in itself. ‘Basic grooming’ has started to have so many steps and complexities that it has
caused consumers to get burnt out, instead of rejuvenating them from the same.
Self-care fatigue has become a common phenomena in our generation, resulting from either failure to meet the ideal or the pressure to sustain it.
And what was supposed to be uniquely tailored to meet the needs of each individual, has now been reduced to a fixed number of steps that absolutely need to be followed by everyone. Self-care, in the 21st century, is more fixated on how the world thinks and feels about as compared to how we think and feel about ourselves-and this is a cause of great concern.
Businesses in the beauty and wellness space have ,of course, heavily capitalized on this newfound vulnerability of consumers and have found a way to increase their profits by introducing new “essential” products each month, under the guise of helping consumers care for and love themselves; propagated heavily by Instagram influencers and beauty and wellness gurus as a one-stop solution to our problems.
However, in reality these only further the mental deterioration of consumers, leaving their hearts desolate and wallets empty.
Moreover, the messaging behind self care that is being projected onto our generation only adds to our mental distress. Self-care is not just physical, and it certainly isn’t a remedy to all of your ongoing problems. If there has been a drop in your self esteem and you no longer feel good about yourself-face masks, bubble baths or hair serums are not the fix (no matter how they may feel!). They may relax your mind and boost your confidence or give you a sense of tranquility, but these effects are only temporary and these products absolutely cannot be used as shortcuts to avoid addressing the real problems.
True self-care is about reconnecting with our true selves, nurturing inner resilience, as we navigate the complexities of life with authenticity and empathy. It is about learning to love and accept ourselves-the message that seems to have gotten lost in all this chaos.