Life after the Pandemic: Going back to “normal”

Written April 4, 2020

I do not think we should go back to life as it was before this pandemic once we can leave our houses again.  Let me explain before you all throw items at me from 6 feet away. I realize we are closer to the beginning than to the end of this pandemic.  I already want so badly to see family and friends, go to concerts, go on trips, have date nights with Andy, take Hannah to the zoo, etc.  I could go on and on about what I want to go back to after this. But I think some things are better left behind.

The majority of people I know were overwhelmed with their lives before the pandemic began and places began to close.   I want people to go back to work, school, etc.  I want our economy to boom again after this.  But let’s meet in the middle on how busy and overwhelming we let our lives become after this pandemic.   People are reconnecting with family (sometimes too much, but you know, there is such thing as too much of a good thing).   People are taking the time to help their neighbors and to support small businesses.  People who don’t use technology much are learning to video chat to see their friends and family members so they don’t put themselves or their loved ones at risk. Friends are making time to happy hour over Zoom (seriously do this, it made my Thursday this week to reconnect with some friends.)  People are having dinner with their families again. Many people never get dinner with their family because their kids have so many extracurricular activities.   I don’t want people to give all those activities up, but maybe we can have one day a week where nothing is planned.

What I think I’m getting at is the concept of a Sabbath day.  I know not everyone reading this will have a religion that prioritizes a Sabbath day, but the concept makes sense in general.   A Sabbath is a day of rest.   For years and years, our country prioritized this and while I definitely don’t want to go back to those times due to some very outdated ideas that existed, the concept of a Sabbath makes sense and didn’t need to disappear completely.    If we run around like crazy all the time and never take a break, we will burn out.   And what I saw before this pandemic was a lot of people who had burned out, including myself at times.  

I also don’t think taking a rest has to look the same for everyone.  Not everyone works the same schedules and maybe it isn’t a full day each week.   But if we keep going the way we did before this, it really isn’t good for us or the world.  I have seen multiple articles recently about how we have impacted the environment for the better during this break.   Some people haven’t left their houses at all and those of us who have, only go to get essentials close by.    Maybe we need a week like this every year.   Everything shuts down except for essentials and we reset.   I don’t want it to be because of a global crisis ever again, but I do know that we can learn some valuable lessons even in a dark time like this.   We can learn how to slow down, how to care about the relationships around us and to value those members of society, such as healthcare workers, who we sometimes do not appreciate enough.   But learning all of this will only be useful if we apply it to our lives once we have a choice of where to spend our time again.