Practicing gratitude amidst the pandemic: 20 things to be grateful for [Week 1]

It’s the year 2020, and so far, it’s sucked. Seriously, can we hit reset?

Rewind to 31 December 2019. I was super pumped for the New Year’s countdown that day. I had my DJ Sabrina persona ready - I was about to play my first prime-time party set in a long time, and felt super pumped for the upcoming gig at members’ club 1880.

I kicked off my DJ set right as the clock struck midnight - and I distinctly remember picking the ultra catchy Ariana/Lizzo tune Good As Hell to usher in the new decade, because, you know, 2020 marked a new year, new decade, and new beginnings - and we should be feeling good as hell!

But 2020 clearly missed the memo.

COVID-19 happened. The news is inundated with depressing shit. People are getting sick and dying. Hospitals are struggling. Governments are mishandling the pandemic. PPE, mask frauds. We’re in constant lockdown. We’re stressed. We’re away from our loved ones. We’re stuck with our not-so-loved ones.

As Marvin Gaye used to sing, “What’s going on?” I don’t know anymore, man.

It’s been tough. While learning to manage bipolar disorder, I built up my self-care routine of meditation, yoga, and journaling - on top of getting regular sleep, maintaining a relatively healthy diet, daily meds, and monthly therapy. I’ve just been getting the hang of it; enjoying my ‘new normal’, as they call it. I was afraid that the whole COVID situation would throw off my recovery, and still am, to be honest. Since the lockdown, it’s been tougher to maintain my self-care practice as the yoga studio I go to is closed, and as mental health was deemed ‘non-essential’ for a while, I got worried that I wouldn’t be able to get my meds. It doesn’t help that cabin fever’s been kicking in too. And I miss being around my friends and loved ones. Amidst these trying times, though, there are still some things I can turn to, to keep going.

On days I feel especially low, I’ve noticed that practicing gratitude has helped tremendously.

I flip open my Grateful mobile app, and it prompts me with a one-liner: “What are you grateful for?” and I start typing in whatever comes to mind. Sometimes I add a photo too. It takes me anywhere between 1 to 10 minutes, depending on my mood and the day’s events. Once in a while, I scroll through my past posts and it never fails to bring a smile to my face, even on the shittiest of days. On better days, it’s really uplifting to realise that there’s so many wonderful things that life has to offer - from something as simple as enjoying the warmth of the sun on your skin when you’ve stepped out of a freezing air-conditioned room, to going scuba diving with magnificent manta rays.

Gratitude is also an amazing way to get in tune with the present moment, to notice where you are today, and what’s actually going well for you right now given the circumstances. Every cloud has a silver lining.

It’s been hard staying optimistic amidst the uncertainty and bad news, so I wanted to kick off a public gratitude practice to keep myself accountable.

Each week, for the rest of 2020, I will post 20 things to be grateful for - starting today.

Here goes!

This week, I’m grateful for:

1. The smell of rain

2. Naps on stormy days/nights

3. Successfully making the perfect scrambled eggs (and eating it)

4. Perfectly toasted bread, and how my teeth feel as I bite into it

5. Walks by the river, and the impressive view of the Marina Bay skyline as I start getting tired from my walk

6. Kiwi fruit, and how the seeds have the perfect balance of crunch and chewy texture to them

7. The satisfying feeling of snapping my phone case onto the phone - it fits perfectly!

8. The caffeine kick from my morning Earl Grey tea

9. Noticing more of the little things in nature, from the flowers to the birds

10. Spontaneously re-connecting with old friends through texts that evolve into hour-long calls

11. Keeping in touch with friends and family through calls

12. Calls! They’re so much better than endless WhatsApp texts(and thank you technology for making this affordable)

13. Spontaneous DJ jam on Friday, and having friends join in - that was a lot of fun!

14. Music, and it’s power to move people - to dance, to cry, to sing along

15. Meditations in the morning, and how it helps to ground me for the day

16. Organising Calm Collective’s virtual summit, and receiving encouraging feedback

17. Working alongside Alyssa and Luqman to help others with their mental health through Calm Collective

18. Having the support of our speakers, influencers, and organisations to help with Calm Collective’s efforts in one way or another - it’s been overwhelming, and so heartwarming really

19. Being alive.

20. Hope. Like everything else, the pandemic too shall pass, and we will adapt to our new normal, whatever that may be.