I know, it’s not over yet. I heard it loud and clear. However, after 16 months of a “new reality” we can easily see that things are getting better. Or, just different; who knows?
This is my first attempt to look back at last several months and summarize what happened with us and the world while we were sitting close to home and trying to keep safe.
First of all, the meaning of “safe” shifted a bit. At least for me. When I hear “safe” now, I immediately check if I am doing everything I am supposed to: proper distancing, mask, hand washing, keeping to my bubble.
It has never occurred to me before to identify safety with all those little things. “Safety” was much bigger and broader: being prepared for the backcountry trip, driving within the reasonable limits and cautions, taking care of my family, my finances, my home, be careful while engaging in extreme sports, be prepared for an earthquake, etc. It was broader and very unspecific in a way. It got simplified in the last fifteen months.
We reevaluated our priorities. We realized that we could live without shopping malls, international travels, office buildings, big sport events, etc. but social contacts, family celebrations, friends gatherings, hugs and closeness with another human being were very difficult to give up.
We reshuffled our group of friends and people we cannot live without. It might have happened spontaneously, without putting too much thoughts and energy into it. We now realize who are the real friends we miss dearly, how much our family members mean to us (even though they sometimes drive us crazy and we want them as far away as possible!).
We cook more and eat less junk food. We bake bread and experiment with different recipes.
We spend lots of time outdoors, exercise more, walk, run, ride bikes, meet friends in the park, eat our take outs sitting near the water or on a curb.
We discovered new beautiful places near by. We travel 40-50 km instead of thousands to enjoy vacation.
We watch movies and documentaries on Netflix or any other streaming services and share titles and thoughts with friends.
We stay home when sick. Being sick and going to work is not a sign of toughness and dedication anymore. It is considered to be a lack of respect for others and a stupid behaviour. And rightly so. We wash our hands frequently and cover our mouth coughing and sneezing. We are very surprised that flu and common cold didn’t bothered us so much last season. We spend much more time with our household and (for the most part) we are OK with it, even find it interesting and enjoyable.
We realize that work and career are not everything. That working 80 hours week doesn’t define us. What we do beside work, the people we surround ourselves with, what we believe in and stand for, are much more meaningful and important.
We think more about others and their safety and comfort, not only what is convenient for us. No, it is not a “wishful thinking”. I see it every day in small acts of kindness, smiles from strangers, short funny conversation in the store or on the street. We care.
A couple of days ago we moved to a third stage BC restart pan. The next day I went to a grocery store to find over 90% of customers still wearing masks. I saw the same distancing and hands sanitizing as before. And I also noticed that people don’t look at each other with judgement or surprise. It is OK. Everybody has different comfort level, different sense of what is safe and what is not. We don’t need to be all at the same stage at the same time.
I really hope that this is the beginning of something new: a new era of awareness, when we can do our own thing and not feel obligated to justify our actions or follow the crowd.
I really hope that we learned how much we depend on each other and how connected we are. That what happens on the other side of the world affect us directly and can change our life 180 degree within a very short time.
I hope that we learn how much can we accomplish standing together rather than against each other. In every aspect of our lives: in our closest relationships, our families, close groups of friends, our neighbourhood, our country, in this world.
I really hope…
By Eva Sadowski Photo by Askar Abayev from Pexels
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