Recently, parts of the country have begun to open again. Some with government approval, and some in defiance of state orders.
That’s making me think, what’s next? My company is looking at opening our office back up in the coming weeks, however, only for people who need or want to be there. We are encouraged to continue working from home for as long as we want at this point.
Do I want to go back to the office? I keep thinking that going back means things are returning to normal. But I really don’t believe things will ever return to normal, with normal being how things used to be. People who think that are deluding themselves, in my opinion. There will certainly be a new normal at some point in our future, and I’m hopeful that it will be different from the shelter-in-place, stay-at-home-unless-you-are-dying-or-have-a-death-wish world that we currently live in.
What do we want the new normal to be?
What the crisis has given us is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see ourselves and our country in the plainest of views. At no other time, ever in our lives, have we gotten the opportunity to see what would happen if the world simply stopped. Here it is. We’re in it. Stores are closed. Restaurants are empty. Streets and six-lane highways are barren. Even the planet itself is rattling less (true story). And because it is rarer than rare, it has brought to light all of the beautiful and painful truths of how we live.
Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting, medium.com
We now have the unique opportunity to reshape our lives, the world, into a better place. Why not take this time to eliminate parts of our life that don’t bring us joy? We can make the new normal something better than what has come before. For some, this might be working from home more often than they used to. I know I am thinking about this, as well as many of my colleagues at work. For others, it might mean a career change or drastic change in how they view their work-life balance. It could be any number of changes, some big, incredibly life-changing things, or small things like choosing to exercise more and/or watch less TV.
There appears to be a significant number of people who want to return to way things were immediately, whether it is safe to do so or not. These people feel we’ve given up an unacceptable amount of freedom and liberty right now. And they may be right.
Personally, I think it depends on your view point. I’m not staying at home because I’m giving up my liberty and my rights to outside, I’m staying home to save lives, possibly my own or my loved ones. I’m making a choice. The numbers indicate, to me, that this is the right choice.
So many people and businesses are suffering financial hardships at this time, and I get that, and I feel for them very deeply. Of course I want the economy to make a comeback, but not at the cost of thousands of lives.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to unsubscribe so that you can resubscribe to a life you actually want.
The Gaslighting of America has Begun, medium.com
Is a return to the defacto normal truly what we want? Or do we want freedom from fear of this virus, freedom to work, play, and live as we choose?
What is your next act? And what is the next act for America? How do we as a country look inside, find the truth, and reemerge to create a wildly fantastic new chapter — one that is fairer, more just, more dignified, and more aligned with who we are as a truly good people?
The Gaslighting of America has Begun, medium.com
I certainly don’t have the answers. I can only hope for a better, brighter future, and that others are also thinking about how we can achieve that together.