Covid-19 Creates a New Normal
Most of the time we are unaware that we are creating a New Normal as we move through our lives. Only when we look back do we see we have made changes.
As I read about people’s reactions to the Covid-19 and the requirements to physically distance, I notice a lot of fear, fear of getting the virus, fear of suffering, fear of dying, fear of financial income loss, etc. Definitely understandable.
When we feel uprooted, we want to feel normal and at ease like we were before the storm which caused the uprooting. Normal, when our lives move on without questioning. We just do. We go to work each day, take care of our children, buy groceries, go to the gym, visit with friends and family, travel. This is normal. And it is comfortable. As we experience the discomfort of the unknown around Covid-19, our survivor-self wants to go back to normal, to what was giving the appearance of a safe, free from hardship life.
Most of us have experienced major life changing times. It could be a health situation, a death situation, a marriage, a divorce, a job change. We categorize them – this change is good, this change is bad, and live our lives accordingly by creating a new normal. My experience has been to embrace the life changing situation without classifying if it is good or bad. By embracing it, I open myself to new creative ways of being, thinking, and flexibility in order to live as easily as possible with constant change and its surprises.
As I observe myself doing my best to physical distance during the Covid-19 time, I make some delightful discoveries.
· I miss hugging loved ones and friends. Yet, I can speak to them via telephone, Facebook, Zoom and other mean available to us. Group get-togethers in public spaces have gone by the wayside.
· My calendar is so clear, I have to look on my computer to remember what day it is. Never have I had to do this.
· I now have more time to spend writing book number three (Conscious Dying—Conscious Grieving: Creating the Change Necessary to Heal) instead of spending my time being in fear of the virus.
· Outdoors weeding my garden in the beautiful Phoenix, AZ spring weather, I meet neighbors – standing six feet from each other – I’ve never met before in the 48 years I’ve lived in the neighborhood. I learn:
- One neighboring couple has turned their café into a bodega with food available for purchase (only one person allowed inside at a time) or they will deliver it to my doorstep.
- Others are doing what they can to order take-out food from our local small business restaurants to ensure they remain in business.
- The teen boys across the street, not in school of course, have to practice their musical instruments. They bring their music stand outside, place it on the sidewalk from their door to the city sidewalk, bring out their instruments and play. People walking their dogs, pushing strollers, riding their bikes stop to listen, appreciate, and clap for having a concert opportunity.
- The artist down the street creates beautifully designed chalk art on the sidewalk in front of her home.
On and on it goes – people are creating their new normal.
We never can go back to the old normal. It no longer exists. However, we can create our new normal from the changing circumstances. We are the creators of our lives. We can flow into the new normal as life conditions present themselves, allowing the new to direct us or we can become a victim of the current circumstances and wish for the old normal so we feel safe.
Here's a quote from the perpetual calendar Doorways to Daily Soul Nurturance I wrote many years ago:
The joy of living as if you are Whole Is you live Truth
Gone are the days of making it happen
Allowing has taken its place
Welcome your evolving new normal, however it looks, however it beckons. Allow it to fill you and lead you. The human spirit is rising. Be along on its ride.
©2020 Cristina Whitehawk