11 Months In…

Things are just different now, amirite?

Ok, so maybe that’s an understatement, we all know that. We’ve learned to live with catch phrases such as “the new normal” as we have tried to come to grips with our adjusted way of life. We’ve learned to recognize friends, family members, and co-workers by just their eyes thanks to life under the mask, and we’ve had to adjust to finding new ways to entertain ourselves as well as ways in which we live with ourselves. Most people have stared at the same 4 walls for 11 months now, and many of those people have repainted those walls so there’s at least a sense of variety.

Btw, this is all hyperbole, so don’t get worked up (see what I did there?)

Now, I don’t think that we’ll always have to live like this, but the longer this goes on, the more we continue to settle in and forget what life was like before it all started, at least as a generalized broad statement. We’ll become more accustomed to grabbing a mask on the way out the door, and avoiding any sense of human contact to the point where it will just feel weird when it’s all said and done and we can ease our way back into a version of the life that we all miss.

It’s weird really… At least for me, I’ve become so conditioned to social distancing and masks that when watching TV and movies that have people not wearing masks and adhering the recommended 6ft bubble of personal space, it just feels weird. A small part of me wants to tap on the screen and remind them that that’s probably not the healthiest thing to do to stand so close… And then I snap back to reality and remind myself that I have become conditioned to thinking that where we are is normal, and well frankly, it’s not. It’s the safest path, yes. But in no way should it ever be considered normal, or even the “new normal”. For the most part humans are social creatures and while we’ve adapted (in a sense), it’s not a good substitution for the basic fundamentals.

So many aspects of our lives have changed, and for the most part, I can’t think of many ways that they have changed for the better. The last 11 months have been filled with a lot of loss… Lives lost, jobs lost, and really, the list could go on for days. We’ve had to learn to cope with things that we didn’t think we’d have to cope with. But, it’s not all about being Johnny Raincloud, because if we continue to look at life through a grey tinted lens, then we are doing ourselves a great disservice.

The upside is that it’s forced us to recalibrate what we believe is important, find new hobbies, binge watch a TON of programming, and learn to build relationships with those we’re able to interact with on a regular basis. For me personally, I’ve tried to find new creative outlets (hence where we are right now), I’ve finished some home improvement projects, and I’ve become pretty good at Call of Duty (not bragging material, just more fact based).

Yes, I miss a LOT of things, and just like many people, I’ve had to endure the loss of family and friends, and that’s something that I will always remember. I know that one day we’ll reach a point where things are “under control”, and the worst will be behind us. We’ll be able to go back to seeing our friends and family with ease, kids will be back in school, jobs and workplaces will open back up and welcome people back in, and no longer will we just want to go to the grocery store as an excuse to get out of the house (or is that just me?)

For me personally, I’ll be able to go back to traveling across the country to National Parks that I haven’t visited yet, get back to going to see concerts again, and most importantly be able to see my friends and family without wondering if someone will get sick. But in the meantime, I’m going to continue to try and make good decisions, social distance, wear a mask, and keep on keepin’ on until the smoke clears!

I guess in the end, that’s how we got here. There was a need for a creative outlet, because not much was changing with the 4 walls I’ve been staring at for the past 11 months…