By Anesiphiwo Qwalana
Online representations of soft living can make it seem luxurious and truly enjoyable. Anyone in the
real world must be made aware of the realities of living a soft life, such as the necessity to work and
earn a livelihood.
A “soft life” is a comfortable, carefree way of living with little stress or difficulty. Some people
consider the phrase to mean a life characterized by (and produced by) riches and luxury, whereas
others see it as simply referring to a simple existence free of stress and obligations
Photo: Internet
Some individuals labour their entire lives. They enjoy working hard and hustling. They make fun of
your nine-to-five schedule and have no idea why anyone would find “quiet quitting” appealing.
There are also people who solely work to live the life that Instagram creates. They take their salary
and travel to Lisbon, Paris, or Madrid, where they post pictures of all the encounters they had thanks
to their hard-earned money on social media.
The “American Dream’s” blueprint for a “good life” has, according to Royster, been utterly turned
upside down. It is no longer just a four-person family moving into a neat house in the suburbs with a
white picket fence. To follow her love for interior design, Royster, a tenured professor at university of
western cape, found herself chasing a whim during the epidemic. She requested a partial scholarship
and applied to an Institute. (Williams, 2022)
Your soul may be soothed by avoiding toxic people or situations, and your mental health can also
benefit from getting enough rest. Making sure you receive the best possible sleep may be a big part
of soft living. You want to give your body the rest it requires to function properly. (Roman, 2023)
People in the 1980s inquired, “How do we maximize?” However, these days, individuals are
enquiring, “What is the bare minimum I need to live a sustainable life?” That is a great concept,
Royster remarks. (Williams, 2022)
The previous two years have seen significant change, and many people are now embracing the socalled “soft life” to escape the struggle, worry, and worry that come with maintaining a typical 9-to-5
job and spending your days on the hamster wheel of existence. Living the soft life is about putting
the depth of experiences first and immersing oneself in delight.
Money comes and goes, and I can schedule projects, employment, etc. when I need money, so I do
not let it upset me,” Royster says.
Photo: Internet
Before deciding to live a soft life, one must first have “an existential conversation” with oneself,
according to sociology professor Deirdre Royster of New York University. Many of those debates were
accelerated by the epidemic, but life as well as what humans value had already begun to change
before everything came to an end. (Williams, 2022)
Black women started using the phrase “soft life” a lot early this year. There are several videos on
YouTube with titles like “How to live your most effective soft life,” “How I made a softer life for me,”
and “The truth about the ‘soft’ life'” that are part of the cottage business of advice, life hacks, and
femininity. All are designed with Black women in mind.
In a film describing the effort required to live a soft life, artist Courtney Daniella Boateng declares, “I
feel like I have come into my era to live a soft life.” I have put a lot of effort into slowing down and
distancing my productivity or self-worth from these notions of extreme stress and hardship.
There is no denying that we live in a very stressed-out environment. And we all experience issues.
You don’t have to praise them when you have a gentle life. Making negative comments about your
problems just serves to delay finding a solution. Our mindset shifts when we begin to view our issues
as challenges. Instead of allowing them to make you feel more stressed, we can come up with ways
to get through them. Everything hinges on perspective. It isn’t about putting on a front and hoping
your issues would go away. Stress may be reduced by recognizing our problems and coming up with
original solutions.
REFERENCING.
Williams, T. (2022) Millennials want to live a ‘soft life,’ and it’s changing how they work, Fortune.
Available at: https://fortune.com/2022/09/11/the-soft-life-of-dar/ (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
Mazurek, D. (2023) Soft life meaning & origin, Dictionary.com. Available at:
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/soft-life/ (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
Roman, A. (2023) Why women should embrace a ‘soft life’, SHE DEFINED. Available at:
https://shedefined.com.au/wellbeing/why-women-should-embrace-a-soft-life/ (Accessed: 01 July
2023).
