This might be controversial, but I believe breaking away from the educational system is essential, to find ourself and to figure out what we want in life. Exploring, getting to know new perspectives, new people should be a big part of growing up. We are often expected to figure out everything by the age of 18-23, but all this time we spend in a system that only shows the world from one perspective.
Society tells us that that’s the way to live life, graduate, get a degree and start working, then buy a house, get married and make some kids and retire. I never felt good in school, the only exception was that I got to know some teachers, who were somehow teaching us a new approach to life, outside the one that we were given through all the years of studying.
At the age of 16 I started going to regular meetups of people who were not fitting in society, who strived for a different life, who were thinking outside of the box. Thanks to this my life started improving, I got introduced to yoga, I got new friends and I started the lifelong journey of getting to know myself, and consciously choosing the discomfort of facing my faulty programming.
The change was not this smooth, for years and years I was somehow stuck between the two words, trying to fit in on one hand and clearly wanting something different from what others do with their lives on the other hand. It created huge tension and discomfort in me.
In high school I got into zero waste living and sustainability, I also became vegan. I was suffering a lot, I lived in the capital city of Hungary, so I was facing overconsumption, and huge production of waste every day. I almost cried every time my mom got home from shopping, two huge bags of products covered in plastic, it felt terribly wrong. But I also felt guilty for having this huge amount of anger in me towards my mom, towards all the people living this life.
This anger got reduced along the way as I was able to accept people living their lives as they wish, but I kept going with the values that I felt were right. Meanwhile I was struggling with my mental health, as a young adolescent of course my problem was my relationship with my body and food. I went through hell with anorexia, then bulimia, then binge eating. It took me 7 years to get out of it. Through all the years this topic took up multiple hours of my day, just thinking about what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and it ultimately took away a lot of joy.
I was hating myself. This brings me back to the topic of education. Noone taught me the importance of mental health, everything was focused on grades and accomplishment. I wish there was more focus on things that actually matter in life: to know ourselves, to love ourselves, to learn how to take care of ourselves, how to communicate with others and how to sustain our needs without harming our planet. I wish we would teach kids the important things. Until then, I wish for every teenager and young adult to be given the opportunity of volunteering abroad, or just an experience that gives them a new perspective and makes them think of life differently.
Here in Vrábsko I feel at peace, I’m out of the city, where people are always busy. I can take my time with my work, I can express my creativity, I can show my emotions. People are genuinely listening to each other. Here sustainability is among the core values, we grow part of our food, we buy ingredients in bulk, we buy local when possible and we cook from scratch. It just feels right.
Wellbeing should come before everything else, here if I’m sick, if I really feel under the weather, I just rest and take my time. I learned to accept my needs and to nurture myself. I need gentleness from myself because I treated myself with hatred for so long. Now I focus on nourishing my body and my soul. I look for ways to heal myself. I have the time, I’m not rushing anywhere. I’m grateful for the people around me, for accepting me for who I am and not for what I do.