Arora Appleby

a journal of healing, learning + loving

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F-ck the lockdown self care tips

lockdown, self care, self love, wellness, wellbeing



I've been trying to think of words to write, type - words to say. I've been trying to put a positive spin on lockdown, on life as it stands right now. But I can't, and quite frankly, I don't want to. I don't want to be another voice shouting into the void telling you that everything happens for a reason and to focus on the lessons you're learning throughout this fucking bizarre time. 


Lockdowns shit. If we're being real, it's really, really shit; not being able to go out, not being able to see loved ones, not being able to do very much at all fucking sucks. Lockdown 1.0 and Lockdown 2.0 all proved to have some hope, but the more lockdowns announced, the less hopeful we all got. It's normal. Well, being locked down isn't normal but feeling the way you do about it, is. 


Back in the day, when I wrote and posted every evening on here, I wrote a lot about mental health, mental illness, self love, self care, and my own personal stories. This is a different kind of post.. I think.

There's loads of posts lately about how to feel better during lockdown, how to practise self love, self care and everything in between. If you need to read those, I'm sure you can google it and an abundance of tips and tricks will come up and will hopefully help you.

I, on the other hand, am here to say fuck it. Fuck that. We can try and try and try to be okay and we all know eventually we will but it's seriously unhealthy to suppress those emotions. So fuck it. Feel the hurt, the disappointment, the anger - whatever you're feeling, feel it. Sit with it, learn about it, learn about how it feels in the pit of your stomach or on the tip of your knees. 


We're living through history and it's okay to switch off from it all, climb back in to that glorious bed of yours and lie there, maybe take a nap, maybe just cry. Whatever you need to do, do it. 


I knew my self care ways couldn't be gone for long, here I am still trying to help people feel better in an oxymoron kind of way. But this will pass, your emotions will pass, the more you suppress them the more they grip on and try to drag you under. So, let them. Let them drag you down and under and have a good cry, scream, nap - whatever you feel you need. But don't let it consume you. 


There's a difference between sadness, anger, disappointment and depression. If you feel you are getting depressed, if you really are not coping at all anymore, speak to your doctor. Articles online will not help you get to the root of it all. So please, speak to your doctor, speak to a therapist, speak to a professional and they can guide you in a way to make everything feel less heavy. 


Only love, 
Arora x

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