Welcome to a “new” normal.
This phrase keeps being thrown around as if it could easily describe what we are all going through right now. When in fact, it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface on how much this global pandemic is changing…everything. I am a pretty social person, and I thrive on keeping busy. It makes me feel whole and that I am living my “best life” sorta speak. So waking up three weeks ago into the first week of quarantine wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. I could barely sleep thinking about how I was going to adapt to this change. How my family, friends, and other love ones would. Would this be two or four weeks? What is it going to look like a couple of months from now? Will it all go back to normal, or did we walk into a total change of atmosphere? My mind regularly races with questions, but it has never been this bad. Forced change isn’t something I have ever been good with, and as hard as I try, it sometimes isn’t any easier than the last time.
Working in the education field, I can say that a school without the kids doesn’t feel like a school. You think that working there, you only help make an impact on the kids, but what you come to realize is how much they impact you too. My daily work has shifted dramatically. And every day, there’s something that reminds me of the fact that its “a new normal.” Something that I know I probably wouldn’t be doing if we weren’t stuck in a world where now you are expected to see everyone as a carrier and avoid as much human interaction as possible. The only quick comfort is trying to remember you aren’t alone and that most people have never seen anything remotely like this. Or never even have imagined something like this happening. I know I couldn’t have.
This whole situation is day by day. I was recently asked to share what I am busy doing, and I will. But I wanted to address something first. If you wake up and you don’t want to do anything but lie in bed. Then do it. No one has the right to make you feel inferior if you aren’t trying to re-vent yourself but are merely trying to survive. Everyone’s going to have a different opinion on this and work through all this differently. And that is okay.
If watching the news helps you, then watch it, but if it makes you anxious, try your best not to. If your friends are some of your rocks but sometimes those group chats, only mentioning the Coronavirus leave you uneasy put your phone on do not disturb and relax. If your parents are talking about it and that makes you feel nervous, just listen and try to be there for them. For many families, this has shattered their worlds completely. And most importantly, listen to your body and your mind because it’s better to be prepared for the worst and hoping for the best, instead of being blindsided. Do whatever is going to make you happier in this time of uncertainty.
You are in my thoughts and prayers.
