As we attempt this journey to return to pre-pandemic “normal,” it seems that the rhythms that once worked are no longer working for many of us.
Have you felt it? This push to return to “normal,” only to find the things that have returned to what was, feel far from normal?
Perhaps it is because, over the last eighteen months, we have changed? So, as the world attempts to reopen and operate at the pre-pandemic pace, we find we can no longer sustain that life and no longer desire to sustain that life. It all feels too much and overwhelming.
As the world moved slower, especially in the early days of the pandemic, we began to learn more about ourselves, recognizing the natural rhythms that worked for our families. Many of us gathered more frequently around the kitchen table, took long walks in the evenings, and family movie nights or game nights became regular events. We remembered or discovered for the first time our love of crafting beautiful things. We were quiet enough to hear the sound of the wind as we sat on our front porches or back decks. We caught up on books stacked dusty on our nightstands or binge-watched TV shows we’d previously been too busy to see. And, in this season, many of us fell in love with the beauty of the slower pace of life.
And, yet as we fell in love with the slower pace of life, we still grieved. We grieved the loss of community beyond the walls of our home. We grieved traditions we were unable to participate in and celebrations not carried out. We grieved the loss of life as we knew it and wished we could have it again. We grieved loss as we fell in love with an unexpected opportunity.
As we celebrate opportunities for things pre-pandemic normal, some of us are now grieving the loss of our slower pandemic-paced life. We feel this tension as we long for life to return to “normal” yet wish for something different, slower, and more sustainable.
I wish I could tell you I’ve figured out how to hold this tension between a desire to re-engage in activities and events we have missed while maintaining that slower pandemic-paced life. But alas, we as a family are still working on figuring that out. As fall sports and after-school activities have begun, I find myself grieving the loss of our less hectic nightly routines. Yet, as I find myself grieving, I also find myself celebrating, celebrating the opportunities my children have to attend school in person once again and participate in various activities. We are discovering old routines no longer work the same way, so we adjust and try new routines. We are attempting to create habits to engage in the community and participate in activities. While still holding onto all we have learned about living a slower, more intentional life.
In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown says, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” As we transition through seasons of change, it can be easy to allow ourselves to be swept away in the current of activity and life demands. But what if we decided not to allow ourselves to be swept away?
What if we decided to prioritize what matters most and give those things the best part of ourselves?
What if, instead of a return to what was normal, we create a new normal?
A new, slower, more intentional life that fits with the life we have decided we want to live?
Friend, it’s not always easy to stand against the current of life. But, I feel it deep in my bones that taking the time to figure out what the new normal should be will be worth the effort. We are not who we were pre-pandemic; we have grown and learned, we have changed. We don’t need to fit our new selves into an old box.
Instead of a return to pre-pandemic normal, let’s return to a new normal.
