COVID-19 and quarantine is messing with our minds…literally. We know we’re not alone, and we bet it’s getting to you too. Which is why we started Mind Matters, a collection of conversations on mental health during coronavirus. As part of this series, we asked some of our Omaha Fashion Week designers how COVID-19 has affected their mental health and creativity, and how they’re practicing self-care. Keep reading to learn more about SuShe by J.Tracey designer Juantiesha Christian, and how quarantine pushed her to turn a longtime passion into a blog!
How has COVID-19 affected your mental health and creativity?
At first, it had not hit me how powerful this pandemic would be. I thought once it made it to the states it would be something we'd experience for a month and then would 'seemingly disappear'. I live in New York City and we were one of the first places to do shelter-in-place. The last news report I remember had only said that seven people succumbed to COVID-19 in NYC. I thought I would be completely fine mentally and saw a 'positive' aspect to staying at home....more time for self-reflection, focus, and to work on things that I put aside.
But after a few days of watching the news, hearing the devastating number of cases, the stories about the isolation of the sick, and predictions for the future, my heart was breaking. I felt my mood changing quickly and my lack of motivation decreasing. And social media (Facebook in particular) was worse. When Facebook friends started showing symptoms, it made me realize how close to home it was and the possibility of easily getting infected. I could feel the paranoia slowly creeping up and felt my mental health about to take a nosedive. This pandemic was closing in and I totally lacked the motivation to do anything, except for work (only because I had to). I couldn't even focus on 'self-care activities'. So to avoid any sort of 'mental breakdown', I stopped getting on Facebook, did not watch the news, and tried to distract myself (by making face masks to send to hospitals).
What are you doing to practice self-care?
Early on, self-care was not even a thing, because I could not focus (due to the result of the pandemic and lives lost). But around mid-April, I started to feel the motivation coming back. My version of self-care is basically anything that does not require thought or stress. This includes going outside for a walk or for fresh air, listening to music, browsing Youtube (for interesting and inspiring videos)...and enjoying a glass of wine!
What are you doing to try to stay creative?
I started a really cool project, with an interesting backstory! In January, I wanted to turn a passion of mine into a blog. I had even scheduled a self-care/vision board & work session party with a few other folks, who had also decided to start a blog. We were very inspired and excited but ending up postponing it (for what I thought would be a week or two ), to avoid unnecessary travel within NYC. That was literally the weekend before quarantine, which we did not see coming! Flash forward to the end of April, I randomly said 'screw it', I'm launching this thing in ONE WEEK! Despite working on it (off and on) for months, I mustered up enough motivation to launch my eyewear style blog, OptiCool! It is a fashion blog that connects people to unique/fashion-forward eyewear, provides shopping and style tips, discounts, and more. You can check out my website online or follow along on Instagram!
Stay tuned for more conversations with our designers, resources for maintaining mental health, and more!