We Need to Redefine "Normal"
It’s been almost 5 months since COVID-19 became a serious threat in the United States. In early March, people were aware of the spread of COVID-19 in China and Italy, but it was not as big of a threat here. In March, in the span of a few weeks, people were at home, working from home, going to school at home, seeing friends and family from a distance or through video calls. It was a weird transition, but a necessary one. The Coronavirus was and still is a real threat that threatens our health, but also has affected how we run our daily lives. Regardless of your socioeconomic status, we all were affected and had to adjust to a new idea of what normal is.
As imperfect as my life before the pandemic was, I do miss it. I miss hanging out with my relatives and friends. I miss interacting with all the people I see at work. I miss going out with my family to restaurants, going on family outings to a movie theater, and I miss taking my kids to amusement parks.
Adjusting to being home has been challenging. I’ve been fortunate enough to work from home. It has been nice to sleep in and already be home when I’m off work, but it’s not the same. I have a lot more distractions at home compared to the workplace, and that has been a challenge that I have slowly gotten better at tackling.
I need to redefine normal. I need to define what the concept of normality means in my life right now. Who knows how long this pandemic is going to last.
I’ve been holding onto the idea that one day, I’ll be able to hang out with my friends again. I still have faith that we will, but I know that I just can’t wait. In the meantime, hangouts, happy hours, and game nights have to exist via video conferencing.
As much as I miss teaching students in a school, I know it’s not a good idea for all of us to be back in school. Having a whole bunch of students in a classroom for hours a day will help the coronavirus spread if it gets into our school community. My students, their parents, and their grandparents will be more at risk. My family and I will be more at risk. As hard as distance learning is right now, dealing with potentially deadly situations is harder. So, in the meantime, I am getting used to teaching online. I am getting better at being engaging with my students online. It’s slower, and at times, more awkward, but I’ve told my students multiple times that we’re just going to have to get used to it. Right now, that’s our normal.
Right now, since it’s close to the end of Summer, I know my family misses going on trips and vacationing in new areas to explore. We have been mostly home since March. We’ve gone to the beach a few times, but only early in the day when it was not crowded and safe enough to do so. Every once in a while, my spouse and I talk about how we miss taking the kids to various fun places and creating memories with them. Unfortunately, with how widespread COVID-19 is right now, we’re still not going anywhere. Many vacation destinations (including Disneyland) is still currently closed. I am currently defining what normal is like with my family. We are adjusting how we have fun. We spend more time talking, sharing stories, playing games together, and going for short walks outside. Luckily, with streaming, we have the opportunity to have movie nights at home and watch something that we haven’t seen before. All this is our new recreation.
Whenever the pandemic ends, I hope it’s soon. Until then, I can’t just wait for things to go back to “normal” or how my life was prior to the pandemic. Life is always full of adjustments, and this is not much different (just on a larger scale). I predict we will have a long and slow transition to however life is post-pandemic, but we will have to define what that normal looks like, just how we have to define what normal looks like now.
Roderick Conwi is the Executive Editor at Nourishment Notes. He is also the author of The Procrastinator's Quick Guide To Getting It Done. To get powerful insights that enhance your day, join his free newsletter.
