Lessons from a life unpaused: a new reverence for experience
The staycation. The Great Resignation. City to country relocation. All signs that, en masse, our priorities have changed through a time of standstill and reflection. Our perception of how we want to experience our lives has altered and a new reverence for human connection, time well spent, our natural world, and the wonders on our doorstep have emerged.
“I haven’t seen you in like… nearly two years?” I said awkwardly to my old work friend. We hadn’t seen each other since the pandemic started, but we’d kept regular contact over WhatsApp. We’d gone from a professional friendship to an easy, meme-sending friendship, but somehow we didn’t know how to behave around each other in person. I hoped, however, that despite the awkwardness she could feel how thankful I was to be in her company. I’d just forgotten how to express it authentically.
As we ambled together, conversation stopped and started until we arrived at our destination. We’d decided to do an experience together because, after all this time and after supporting each other through the ups and downs of Covid from afar, a chat over a cup of coffee felt like it wouldn’t touch the sides. We browsed through the experiences on Yuup, and booked in for candle making as a way to break the ice.
In the workroom, we were surrounded by people just like us. Everyone new to candle making, all politely unsure of how to interact in a new group, but all eager to try something new and meet new people in the process. Our host was a warm summer breeze, sharing with us her craft and showing us the skills that go behind her small business. It was an intimate setting with a small group of people spread across a collection of tables at the back of Prior shop. You walked through a cornucopia of sustainable and handmade items to get to it, filling with awe and inspiration as you went. It was a backdrop that set the stage for sharing and communication.
As we swapped different essential oils between tables and as we introduced ourselves and complimented each other’s blended scent combinations, we became closer and more animated. It was a feeling that we’d forgotten. It was a feeling we’d missed. My friend and I eased into our new friendship, laughed over failed scent combinations, and strengthened our bond over this new shared memory.
Photo courtesy of Yuup
A new reverence for experience. An appreciation of time well spent. A realisation of things taken for granted pre-pandemic. We’re seeing signs of it everywhere. People are leaving their old jobs in droves (The Great Resignation) because, after reflection, their passion and their heart is telling them to follow a new path. Everywhere side hustles have become main hustle and consumer behaviour has shown that we’re embracing the change.
Small businesses and local creators were hit big by the pandemic whilst billionaires loaded their pockets. In a recovering world, shopping small and local is on the rise. We saw how small business owners looked out and supported their community (and one another) during tough times; now consumer behaviour shows that there is a conscious shift of loyalty to supporting the businesses on our doorstep.
Photo courtesy of Yuup
This was one of the driving forces behind creating Yuup; to give a platform and new revenue stream to small business owners and to offer customers authentic experiences with passionate local people. Experience days used to be the domain of big businesses. They were pre-packaged, spiritless, and supported hotel and restaurant chains; whilst in the background, your local ceramic artist humbly put a handwritten sign in their window inviting you to book in and spend the afternoon making pots with them.
Born in Bristol, Yuup was started because its founders saw that across the city there were talented people ready to share their brilliant experiences with others, but a world of big business and algorithms (that demands a level of technological/digital literacy) isn’t always the most welcoming environment to people that run small businesses. The people behind Yuup also saw that, similarly to them, people in the midst of the pandemic were craving authentic connection with others. To put it simply, we missed one another. We missed spending time with our loved ones. We realised we’d taken making memories for granted and we couldn’t wait to make more.
Photo courtesy of Yuup
The rise in staycations despite being able to travel abroad and the rise in relocation from city to country shows a cultural shift to a reverence of experience. We want to slow down, live in the moment, support sustainability, embrace simplicity. We treasure the small things, and we’ve realised that this gratitude is also the key to better wellbeing.
This also reflected in the feedback of what people took away from their experiences. From the comments that hosts received during their experiences and the reviews coming in on Yuup, it’s clear that people were embracing the wholesome and that what they’d done to improve their wellbeing was uniquely personal to each individual. Learning the art of loom weaving, making Northern Italian pasta from scratch, macrame-ing a plant hanger, foraging for wild medicine, wild winter swimming, and more- these were all things people were choosing to do in order to feel happier and more fulfilled.
Photo courtesy of Yuup
Photo courtesy of Yuup
As I sat there, haphazardly mixing pine essence with orange essence, I felt at peace. I felt accomplishment and satisfaction when I mastered the potter’s wheel before my friend’s (vocally overly confident) boyfriend had… she also joined me in my elation. I felt silly and unabashed when I went with a group of friends to trampoline and have pizza. These are memories and emotions that are even sweeter after a period of pause and reflection.
After almost two years of a primarily virtual existence, we’re slowly emerging into 3D. It’s somewhat unnerving (yes I will be more awkward interacting with you than pre-pandemic and yes I probably will mention how crazy the last couple of years have been) but it’s intoxicating and oh-so-promising. As we find our feet again, we’re realising how much more of the world there is to embrace than we’d noticed or had time for before our lockdowns.
The lessons we can take away from this gruelling time period we’ve endured collectively is that we can do better with the time that we have, we can appreciate our community and the people around us more, and we can treat our own lived experience with new reverence and awareness. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve realised that there is more to life, and I plan on not letting that go any time soon.
Photo courtesy of Yuup
Written by Nathalie Gannon
Nathalie Gannon studied English Literature at the University of Leicester and then tried (and failed) to be a writer in the two years after graduating. She then studied a masters at the University of Bristol, continued freelancing, and interned as a writer for an LGBTQ+ events collective before finally landing a gig as a commercial journalist. Concerned about how the media was affecting the MH of people surrounding her, she started looking for an ethical way to continue writing and earn a living. She now works as a content writer for Yuup, and is grateful that her work can reflect her life outside of it. She likes to hang out with her three cats, make stuff, and eat cake.
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