COVID-19: Maybe we Shouldn’t go Back to Normal.
As I walked my dog this morning in the bright sunshine, I was reminded of the little things that still feel normal. Like the quiet streets in my community, the birds chirping in the background, the squirrels running happily around, and the hint of summer in the distance. An unusually warm spring morning offering hope…things that are normal.
I long for normalcy.
Even though I worked from home before COVID-19, was rarely out and about, often spent hours a day walking, instead of driving, and only saw my oldest boys every few weeks, this doesn’t feel right. Even though I am still working out every day, from my house instead of the gym, but sweating none the less, this doesn’t feel right. Even though my business is still up and running and my clients need me as they did before, this doesn’t feel right. Even though I often preferred staying in to going out, this doesn’t feel right.
While many things for me are quite similar to how it was before, I know it is not that same at all. The idea that if I want to go out, I can’t. The idea that if I want to see and hug my boys, I cannot right now. The idea that if I want to sit at the coffee shop counter to write, I cannot. It is the fact that I can’t, that bothers me most. That I have lost this power of choosing the things I might want to do. The ultimate surrender.
Normally, I lay out my hourly plans. When I see my clients, when I write, eat, go shopping, browsing, see a movie, grab a quick lunch with my husband at the café. When and how I will food shop, leisurely lingering over healthy choices, dinner ideas, label reading.
Normalcy. Like going outside to inhale deeply, rather than small breathes underneath my mask.
Yet as I embrace my frustration and fears, and feel yours too, I believe we all need to truly pause, before going back to normal. I will dare to say that much of our old normal was not really serving us well at all. I saw the suffering, the sadness, frustration and fears from you all before. Remember?
So, what if instead, we consider this as the universe giving us a hard reset. You know, pressing down on that button for long enough to make the screen go blank. Long enough to make us uncomfortable about what will happen when the screen returns. Long enough that our brain says, are you sure about this? Yes, that long.
What if we hold onto this moment in time as a true gift to breathe, and think? What if we choose to breathe with a steady easy pattern while we wait? What if we simply have faith that what is on the other side of this reset, is just what we have needed all along? Imagine yourself walking away you’re your screen as it resets. Not watching with intensity to see how long it will take, or what the new screen will bring. Imagine for just a moment that you can walk away, and have faith that the reset button will take care of the frozen parts and offer you just what you need.
What would that look like for you?
Let’s pause, instead of waiting, and take the time to redesign how you want the new screen to look. Where will you be, or will you be with, what will you be doing? How will it look, smell and feel in this new normal? What can you do differently that will foster a life filled with hope, inspiration and authentic happiness?
This holding pattern we are in due to COVID-19 is temporary, just like everything else in life. Don’t wait for the unfrozen screen to appear before deciding what you really want your new normal to look like…do it now.
This is an opportunity of solitude that you may never see again, so drain all the good from it that you can. And while you are at it, get a piece of paper and start redesigning what your new normal will look like. I can’t wait to see what you have planned!