We Need To Stop Pining About ‘Returning To Normal’

We are dangling a carrot which doesn’t exist from a stick we can’t ever reach because it points to the past not the future.

Image by Donkey Cartoon

When it comes to being shut down and isolated at home we can all agree we are pretty much over it. The novelty has worn off, we are going stir crazy staring at the same walls every day, we are stressed and anxious to resume our lives fully aware of the economic impacts being suffered at all levels. Thanks to our growing desperation the optimistic mantra of ‘hoping things will get back to normal soon’ has become more of an agonized plea. Trouble is it’s a false target. Even once this is all finally passed and done things are not going to go back to the way they were before. They can’t, and we need to stop setting ourselves up to expect them to.

Never mind arguments over whether or not we should want things to go back to the way they were we need to accept and understand that they simply are not going to. They can’t.

The global economic situation is not the same as it was at the end of last year. Our jobs and workplaces are not the same, both because of the economic differences and because of the continuing need for safety precautions. All of our activities from work to recreation to entertainment to socializing are all going to be different because we will need to be conscious of safety…