An online shift in living aesthetically and “softly” has recently sparked attention on social media platforms, specifically TikTok. The trend has piggybacked off of the “clean girl aesthetic”, which glamorizes good hygiene and self-care. A community of young influencers are seen promoting quiet Friday and Saturday nights spent in their homes with an early bedtime, passively critiquing those who alternatively spend their weekends out late with friends. Although everyone is entitled to their own idea of fun, concern has grown around this concept as it may lead to regret in older years.
When you are young, you live through experiences. You don’t live to work, you don’t work to live. You simply exist to have fun and take in your years free of obligations and stress. As we get older, life becomes more restrictive as most grow into parents, employees and partners. It is therefore inevitable that slowing down is a result of aging; furthermore, slowing down while you’re young will only lead to regret with time. The lessons learned from meeting new people and visiting new places will ultimately become the backbone of your adult years since you choose where and who to settle down with. If you spend your younger years isolated and alone, it could potentially minimize your social circle that would otherwise expand and flourish into your adult years.
The trend of living a “soft life” came about to normalize and encourage women specifically to feel secure in staying at home rather than going out during the years it is most expected from. Staying in only increases screen time and consequently enforces bad habits. The more people stay home and avoid pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones, the harder it is going to be when they have to. When you are home doing nothing, the urge to stalk social media becomes more tempting as you neglect your desire for socialization since, as human beings, we thrive off social interactions and developing relationships with others. Though everyone’s idea of fun is different, isolation and an overload of social media is unhealthy for anyone. Especially in a post-pandemic world where social anxiety is at an all time high, spending time with others should be more encouraged than ever.
The idea of living a “soft life” additionally follows the trend of growing up too fast. People are in such a rush to act 15 when they are 10, 20 when they are 15, or 40 when they are 20. Rather than enjoying life in the stage we are living through, people continue to force themselves to grow up faster. There is no rush to be old. There is no rush to grow out of the age you are in. You have years ahead of you to sit on the couch and stay in every night, but you do not have your whole life to be reckless and young. Live your youth to the fullest.
