This May Be New but it Does Not Feel Normal

Over the next couple of weeks I want to take some time to learn what everyone else is thinking. This is also a good time to start thinking about how to process everything that has happened.

What we are dealing with now is not the new “normal” yet. Normal implies things have settled into a new routine. Nothing could be further than the truth. This virus keeps changing the rules. Like an invisible threat it hangs there and I have to come to grips with the fact that I just do not know what is going to happen. I do not know if I have it on me. I wish it had a color or odor so I could see it and wash it off. Did I step too close to that person and pick it up from them or did they leave it on that box of cornflakes before I touched it? Worse still – did I leave some on the box I touched? This is not normal and I really hope it is not my new normal.

In the past we could get together, hug, talk, and work things out. In the past many “boomers” would leave most of the online technology to the more tech savvy people in their group. Now they are learning how to use Zoom, have virtual doctor’s visits, and communicate. They can no longer go out to morning coffee with friends, get their hair cut, go to restaurants, go to work or interact in person. It may be new and it may be working, but this does not feel normal. It feels a little surreal to me. What are your thoughts? Can you give yourself a break and realize you are dealing with a lot of challenges all at once? What is the hardest thing for you to deal with?