Danielle Shankman
Hello, my beautiful Consensual Humans readers, Happy new year! And happy it shall be! The beginning of a new year can feel daunting. So much potential. So much pressure.
Many of us are solely focused on starting the new year off right. Going to the gym, Eating healthier, and making more time for friends, partners or family. Finding a hobby. Crocheting sounds fun. Volunteering. Starting a podcast. Getting higher grades. Getting into meditation. Getting rid of dairy in your diet. Not leaving the house in pyjamas anymore.
To say it plainly, these pressures accumulate to be extremely overwhelming and likely unattainable once life sets in and January comes to a close. Yes, those first few weeks of January you may be living your Jen Selter, Emily Mariko, Daisy Keech lifestyle however by February we are likely back to ordering Mcdonald's fries at 3 am on UberEats.
Shit is hard.
We all crave to better ourselves however these mountain piles of expectations often leave us falling back into old habits. We apply so much strain to our mental health trying to accomplish these goals and then inevitably disappoint ourselves and feel awful about how “we weren't strong enough to succeed”. To this, I say you are strong and be patient with yourselves.
I am no beacon of mental or physical health but I can strongly argue that wanting to completely change your lifestyle and better yourself doesn't happen cold turkey…. Especially at Queens. We are by nature drunk stressed-out social creatures that take shelter between Stauffer library, Stages and the Pizza Pizza on Division. Queens, like many other university campuses, does not necessarily promote the Emily Mariko lifestyle we might strive for. On a day-to-day basis, we are meant to carry the burdens of a 10-page essay, an exam worth half your grade, comforting your friend during a breakup, and making time to eat something when you can all while balancing the responsibilities of going grocery shopping, doing laundry and picking up prescriptions.
To those who achieve the miraculous achievement of meeting your mountain of new years resolutions, I both applaud you and am in awe of you, however, to those who didn't, I urge you to remember this feat is just as I earlier described it: miraculous. Don't be disappointed in yourself instead maybe tweak your expectations to the ones you feel are most important and ease yourself into it. I want nothing more than for all of you to achieve your goals. Whatever your News Year's resolutions are, I have no doubt you can succeed in keeping them. I'm just here to offer comfort and advice as a girl who has gone down this road.
Being a Queens student is incredible but also overwhelming and at times dangerously stressful. In attempting to tackle our schoolwork and make time for our social lives I encourage you all to put your mental health first as we all try to conquer this new year which I am certain we all will. For me personally, you may see me at the gym this year but I'll still be in class in my pj’s. I call that ~Balance~.
Resources
The new year can be a challenging time for everyone, if you or someone you know is in need for counselling or general advice for the year to come provided are some resources that may help.
SAC Kingston (Sexual Assault Centre)
Phone: 1-877-544-6424. Available 24 hours Crisis Support.
Email: sack@sackingston.com
Located at 400 Elliott Avenue, Unit 1 (Rockcliffe Plaza) Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Queen's University Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Coordinator, Barb Lotan.
Barb Lotan can aid in the healing process and assess potential next steps.
Email: bjl7@queensu.ca
Office Located at B502 Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Human Rights & Equity hallway.
Student Academic Success Services
Phone: (613) 533-6315
Book Online: https://sass.queensu.ca/appointments
Located at 101 Union St, Kingston (Inside Stauffer Library)
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