All photos are taken by me.
Greetings, friends. I know that I have created a profile by sharing more DIY projects and game reviews or writing stories. But lately I don't have much time due to workload. I am also saving money for the filament or resin I need to buy for the printer. Today I had to go to a hospital in Istanbul and I made this journey with a ferry. During this time, many topics came to my mind and I thought a little bit. I decided that I could write an article about these topics and I can also share the photos from there.
Throughout this article I will talk about the comfort zone and how in the corona era people got used to being confined within four walls.
Leaving the Comfort Zone and the Effects of the Corona Pandemic in Istanbul
What is comfort zone?
a situation where one feels safe or at ease.
During the corona period, most of us were stuck in our homes. As I said, we got used to our four walls and actually got used to them out of necessity. In the last year, the fight against corona has been going so well that people are no longer using masks and have started to go out of their homes. But there were psychological problems as well as economic problems for people to stay in their homes. I can easily see this when I look around me.
I used to feel the crowds when I used to walk the streets of Istanbul. I was surprised to see how few people there were today, even though it was a working day. I talked to a friend the other day that many people spend their time economically just by walking around the shopping malls and looking at the shop windows. He works in a shopping mall and is a sales assistant in a clothing store.
He was saying that people just come and spend time just to pass the time and window-shop. He hoped that this would change after the Corona period, but now people are so used to saving money and living in fear of something happening at any moment that no one can spend money.
And because of the bad economic times, people don't want to leave their homes. We have locked ourselves in our homes willy-nilly.
This is not a good thing.
Not going out of the house and not participating in life
Yes, I was also someone who stayed at home for a very long time. We did activities like playing games with my friends online or watching something together by downloading joint netflix watching programs remotely. But nothing is as much as fun like the time spent face to face.
When we don't leave the house, we lock ourselves in a bubble. And this is the social media we consume. We watch TV programs and news that we follow.
I haven't watched the news for about a year, and I realized that it was affecting my mental health very badly because there was always something negative going on.
So I've isolated myself from the news and I know a lot of people do that.
It's also a case of not leaving the house and being afraid to spend money. This is actually out of necessity because most people don't earn enough money to spend on entertainment.
They just live their lives thinking that I'm just going to pay my bills and get on with my life and fulfill my little goals and things like that.
But I don't think we participate in life when we never leave our comfort zone.
When I was out and about today, I realized that it was a bit different from other days.
Doing Small Things
Although there are many free activities to do, it is hard to get over the fear of going outside. I especially want to talk about people who go to work and come home and have nowhere to go in the evening. Some of these friends are so tired that even on the weekend, they have no entertainment time to spare for themselves, even on the weekend. Even if they have time, they have no energy left.
In fact, there are a few activities that can be done, for example, walking. Or visiting an animal shelter. Both of these activities are free, but it is easier to find time and find excuses not to go.
In addition, some museums can be visited for free or for a very small amount of money. But when I looked at the faces of the isolated and unsocialized people, I felt a sadness in all of them. I knew that no one was smiling, but it really made me sad to see it once again.
Also, visiting the historical monuments in our city is something that can be done without spending money. For example, there are many mosques in Istanbul and I am absolutely sure that many people living here have not visited them.
At least I know that the people around me have not visited them.
Visiting a Shopping Mall vs Visiting a Natural Park
Can you see in the picture above how a vine grows stubbornly on the iron, as if it wants to get out? It has even started to enclose the iron.
The other thing I noticed is that even though the weather is nice and there is sun in the sky, a lot of people fill the malls, but there are very few people in the natural parks outside.
For example, when I visited "Bebek Park" a few weeks ago, there were so few people that it surprised me. Normally there would be a lot of people there.
Besides that, we should know how much nature relaxes people. If you have ever been camping or on a picnic you will understand what I mean. So I ask you, have you really been in touch with nature after the corona pandemic? Or did you leave home and go to shopping malls because you were traveling. This is the biggest problem.
By detaching ourselves from nature and reducing our touch with the earth, we started to store the stress on us.
Today on the ferry I came across a few people talking on their phones, which is actually the main reason why I wrote this post. Although I don't need to elaborate on these conversations, I should mention that the main problem in both of them is economic.
During these conversations, people said things like "we don't have money, how are we going to get there?" which made me think. In the same way, I realized that I don't go anywhere just to avoid spending money, and I realized that I was believing the lie that I was living happily at home in a bubble of my own creation.
But this is not the truth.
We are a species that feels more positive the more we go out and meet and chat with people.
We are a social species.
Getting out and breathing more
Even though we want to leave home and go to a workplace for our work, we need to go out to socialize more.
Workplace does not count. For some people it is also comfort zone.
Life should not be about 3-4 people in our house and/or our relatives plus our neighbors.
We should meet people who can bring a new conversation into our lives. For example, talking to an uncle who fishes. Or chatting for a few minutes with a garbage collector. These things will not only improve our social skills but also our mental health.
Which I think is the most important thing.
Even if you have millions of dollars, it's worthless if you don't have mental health and peace of mind.
If we feel lonely in a crowded city, the biggest reason for this is that we have willingly or unwillingly isolated ourselves in our comfort zone. We have to get out of it.
Thank you so much for reading.