Opinion: PROTECTING YOUR ENERGY IS A PRIVILEGE

In the long shadow of the New Year and quickly-broken resolutions, my social media feed is once again filled with one very similar message – protect your energy. It’s phrased differently across platforms but at its core, the message is the same: shut off from social media, turn the other cheek, adopt slow living, and enjoy the little things. In theory, it’s sound advice, but the reality is more disheartening.

As I scroll through TikTok and discuss the sentiment with friends, I realise this message is perpetuated by the same group of people. White upper-middleclass influencers, whose day-to-day existence is alien to their millions of adoring online followers.

Social media can be toxic. Young people say that four out of five major social platforms make their anxieties worse, according to Health Assured. Studies have also found a strong link between heavy social media exposure and an increased risk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm and even suicidal thoughts. But telling people their mental wellbeing will improve simply by turning off their phones, doesn’t get rid of the real problems we face in life.

Some of the most regurgitated techniques for ‘protecting energy’ are simply unattainable for the everyday person, especially the younger generation who are facing an uncertain future saturated with economic and political turbulence. How can you set boundaries and reduce stress when you are struggling to make your rent? How can you take time for yourself and work on saying ‘No’ when a networking event might be the make-or-break step for your career? How can you limit your exposure to stress and negativity between customer service roles, mountains of university work and inescapable newspaper headlines of detrimental policy changes piled high next to that much-needed coffee?

The mindfulness movement is starting to sound a lot like the work-life balance conversation. It only applies to those with the financial and social stability to work less and live more. I have spent the past three and a half years working alongside my degree, doing internships, working in retail, social media management, and remote office jobs; I’ve seemingly done it all. Between all this, I have made everlasting friendships, gone to concerts, read books in the park, hosted weekly movie nights and generally been very happy, but I have certainly not been mindful or rested simply because I’ve not had the time nor the money! And, talking to other students, I know they feel the same.

The real modern origins of self-care unsurprisingly did not start with social media but in 1960s America with the Black Panthers, an anti-capitalist revolutionary Black political organisation. Leah Thomas, the founder of Intersectional Environmentalist collective, explained in an interview with Vice that the Black Panthers “had some really radical frameworks around self-care and how to refuel ourselves” in order to “dismantle systems that are oppressing us”. The Black Panthers focused on community initiatives including the Free Food programme which encouraged emotional wellbeing and a focus on absolute necessities. American activist and poet Audre Lorde too promoted radical selfcare in her collection of essays, A Burst of Light. Lorde described self-care as self-preservation rather than selfindulgence, calling it “an act of political warfare”. However, this message has been lost in the age of social media. Instead, we’re seeing an undeniable shift towards self-indulgence. Self-care no longer means looking after your mental state but has become entangled with capitalist desire.

If we listen to our social media feeds, we are not protecting our energy unless we spend £30 on a gratitude journal. We are not looking after our bodies unless we buy ten different types of vitamins and drink from a high-tech aesthetic water bottle. Just scrolling through the selfcare tag on TikTok there are 20 different people telling us to ‘run, not walk’ to grab another life-changing product. There are Pilates classes, self-help books, sunset lamps – even rings that monitor our heart rate to track stress levels constantly. I fall victim to it as much as anyone else but in the end, buried in daily planners, anti-anxiety candles and self-help books, I came to a realisation that I do not have the privilege of truly protecting my energy. However, I can protect my happiness.

Searching ‘happiness’ on our feeds instead unearths advice that seems much more in tune with the

By Georgia Downham

everyday lives of most people. Stretch for five minutes in the morning. Find something positive in every day without having to write it down and share it. Spend time with friends. Appreciate nature on your walk to work. Talk to people about your struggles and listen to them in return.

It’s easy to say and hard to start, but once you do, your immediate destination may not be total peaceful mindfulness, and being oblivious to everything else, but it will certainly be a step in the right direction.