The times, they are a-changin’. Life now in the details bears little resemblence to life a year ago. And it hasn’t been easy. But even though things are changing, that doesn’t mean there isn’t positive among the negative.
The Old Normal Is Gone
Everything changed in the blink of an eye. We were going on as usual, most of us oblivious to the news filtering in from other parts of the world. And then everything shut down suddenly. I know in my state, governed by a medical doctor, the restrictions were extensive and swift. And suddenly, life as we knew it had changed radically.
Gone are the days of commuting and going to the office. Gone are the shelves of plenty in the grocery stores. Gone are the days of spontaneous social events around crowds of people. Gone are the days of in-person school.
It’s all gone.
Enter the “new normal”: telecommuting, massive unemployment, homeschooling, creative cooking with substitution, video conferencing for meetings, video replacing social events, and staying home.
Predictions Are Useless
It frustrates me when people talk about “getting back to normal.” With no end of the virus in sight, there will be no returning to life the way it was pre-COVID. But at the same time, I don’t think anyone can predict what life will finally settle out to be.
For a long time, we could make assumptions about the future based on the past and present. It was like we were traveling and long,straight road, and we could see into the distance. But this is no more. All of the planet is now facing a huge turn in the road, and boulders blocking our way. We can no longer make predictions based on the past, or even the present.
But I can tell you, that things will never be the same. Too much has happened, with long term affects, for it ever to be the same.
Positives Will Come From This
But people focus too much on what has changed for the worse, rather than what is positive.
- Working from home has permanently changed the flexibility of the workplace as more employers understand that productivity doesn’t take a hit just because of location.
- The massive layoffs are bringing attention to the conditions of those who work retail and service.
- Shopping online/pickup or delivery keeps us from losing hours in stores and cuts down on impulse purchases.
- Free time has lead to people purging their living spaces (this is happening where I live in a massive way)
- Socializing has become more creative. No longer is place an issue for not staying in touch.
- Students are learning to learn on their own, rather than having information spoon-fed to them. As a former teacher, I can only see this as positive.
- People are looking at what they can do to fill their time, and many back-burnered projects are getting completed.
I’m not saying there isn’t positives to community interaction. I think that communities need to acknowledge the life transitions of their members: births, graduations, milestones and deaths. For now those things don’t look like they used to, but become a deliberate extension of the needs of the community to interact.
Conclusion
I don’t know where this COVID quarantine will leave us as a world, countries and communities, but I do know that there have been positives coming out of it. And I hope that we look at the positives and find a way to bring them into our lives, and not just go back “to the way things were.”
