7 Things I unlearnt during the lockdown.

Unlearning is the first step towards learning. Throughout our lives, we learn and unlearn so many things. This includes our behaviour, practices, habits, and skills but the process is so gradual that we don’t realize that we have unlearnt so many things. With changing times and environment, we unlearn what we learnt as a child, in schools and colleges, and start to imbibe new learnings with the different roles we play as a wife, husband, mother, sister, employees, manager and boss. This slow, but the inevitable process gets registered somewhere in our subconscious mind and keeps molding us as the person we are, and we will be.

5 months into this new life of staying indoors, working from home, schooling from home, entertaining ourselves at home, washing utensils, and cleaning up by ourselves has taught us so many things we believed we could never do. I believe this pandemic has pushed me to unlearn a lot many things and learn even more, making me a happier and content person. While I was introspecting the changes, I wanted to share with you all, some of the prominent learnings and unlearning I have had during this time.

1.       Slow & peaceful mornings – Before the pandemic, it was as if I was on roller-skates, constantly rushing to get things done. My first coffee of the day would inevitably be heated at least 5 times before I take the first sip. But now, the mornings are different. Today, my husband and I wake up and spend at least half an hour in our balcony with our cuppa and relish the morning breeze, watch the birds chirping, and discuss our day’s plan. The mornings have slowed down.

2.       Getting things done – Life without a house help was unimaginable all these years. But with C-19 spreading like wildfire and all the scare around child safety, we didn’t want to take chances. And so, we asked our house-help not to come even before the first lockdown and surprisingly, we have survived these five months without a house-help. The first couple of weeks were disastrous. I felt as if I am in the kitchen 24/7 and the house is always in a mess. Slowly things fell in place. Today, we can manage the house and its chores much better. And the reason is in my point no. 3

3.       Togetherness – Unlike earlier, when everyone was too busy to clean up the house, today all three of us work to get things done around the house. We have duties divided amongst ourselves and 9-year-old also does her bit whenever possible. Bonus – the little one makes tea for us every evening. These small changes have brought us together as a family.

4.       Living the moment - The pandemic has impacted all of us in many different ways. Whether it’s a job or self-owned business, all of us have had to face some rejection or slow down. I too was worried in the initial days as I had lost out on some projects due to the pandemic, but slowly we came to terms with the new requirements and altered our offering, focused more on partnering with clients for smaller projects, and helped them through this pandemic. This helped us plan better and stay relevant and resilient during such tough times.  

5.       Less is more – We haven’t done shopping in months. Apart from groceries, we haven’t bought anything else in the last five months, which makes me wonder, we can live without so many things we would otherwise spend on. Today, we have become financially smarter and conscious shoppers, thanks to the uncertainty of the economy lurking over our heads. We have started to differentiate between needs and wants.

6.       The new social life – Before the pandemic struck the world, we would always be waiting for weekends. That was the time to catch up with friends, go shopping, and eat out. There was a time when we would find it difficult to sit at home during weekends, doing nothing. But now, we have truly become #aatmanirbhar in that case. We have a set plan for weekends. We experiment with new dishes in our newly bought OTG, we watch new movies or web series and spend two good days together as a family. And we make sure, we are off from work.

7.       Revived interests/hobbies – As we get busy with our professional and personal responsibilities, hobbies always take a backseat. Having been a professional writer for over 15 years now, I never wrote anything for myself. The pandemic changed that too. The anxieties of lockdown or fear of a bleak future perhaps led me to my first love of writing poems. I am surprised to see after all the day’s work, I still have got the time to pen down some thoughts. It is amazing how our minds can be so positive during such unprecedented times. 

All the above learnings made me unlearn so many dependencies, cravings, rush, fear, and anxiety. These were the things I never thought I would be doing as an individual or as a family. We have certainly learnt to live a better life. Though I am sure, the moment life gets back to what it was before, I might end up being the earlier me. But I would still want some of these new learnings to stay with me the way they are.

Did you have a similar experience? What did you unlearn during the lockdown? Do share your unlearning experience in the comments below.