Peggy Liu

“If you can be outside in the sun, do it. Humans, like most other living things, thrive in sunlight.”

“Uninstall any social media apps if you feel like they’re not good for your mental and emotional wellbeing.”

“Like I said before, you are only human — as much as some might fancy themselves otherwise — and you are allowed to be.”

“You are so brave. If no one has told you, I’m telling you now. You are brave for taking on so many tasks and challenging yourself in an environment where stress is encouraged.”

“Applying this to the topic of self-care, we then see a rising trend of social media telling us that to properly take care of ourselves, we need to commit to pampering ourselves with finer things like fancy beverages and pretty candles.”

“The first week back on the grind can be overwhelming with new schedules to hammer out, syllabi to pour over, textbooks to purchase, and looming deadlines to meet.”

“Let’s be real: the holidays are an empty pocket of time that has become associated of love, family and joy. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.”

“Pay attention to your mind and your body. Get to know their patterns. In my experience, it’s the best way to give myself the care I need depending on how I’m feeling on any given day.”

“The expectations for the typical post-secondary student has somehow centred around the idea of maintaining a full schedule and an unnecessarily high stress level — there’s this idea that if you’re not stressed out and overworked, you’re lazy and unambitious.”

“When something becomes a habit, you wind up mechanically going through motions. You stop thinking actively because you know more or less what to expect throughout your day.”

“I was doing all the things the conventional idea of self-care encapsulates: taking naps, listening to gentle music, taking a break from homework, from life — you know, relaxing things. None of it did anything to pull me out of the emotional black hole I found myself sucked into.”