Navigating the New Normal

Navigating the new normal. That is a phrase that I am hearing a lot.  It almost sounds like an oxymoron. How can something be new and normal?

Yet here we are trying to figure out how to work from home or in some cases what to do now that we are unemployed, trying to figure out this whole “distance learning” thing whether for ourselves or our kids and basically learning how to be social but at a distance.

I don’t know about you guys but I am already exhausted, hell I was exhausted before all this and now this extra stress is not helping. So what is the new normal?

Well, it is going to be different for everyone, for some people it is going to be working from home while simultaneously trying to make sure your kid is doing their school work or at least entertained. For others, it will be isolation, with only pets and the internet for company. And yet for others, it is a chance to reconnect with family and friends (digitally or over the phone, of course).

Normal may be getting up your regular work hours, getting dressed, and going to your home office or it might be sleeping in and wearing your PJs as you work.  It may be having a color-coded schedule for your kids’ activities or flying by the seat of your pants and just making sure they are fed and happy.

For some people, there is not much change because they already felt isolated and that thought makes me very sad. Some people are struggling because they get energy from gathering with others.

The fact is most, if not all of us, have no idea what we are doing or how we are going to do it.  And that is kind of scary. (Especially for those of us that already struggle with anxiety) Plus while we are all caught up in trying to live life as normal as possible we DO have a pandemic going on and it is kind of crazy.  I mean it is the kind of thing you read about in history books, not think you are actually going to experience.

But here we are a quarter of the way into 2020 and it is what it is. 

It is not odd to see people in a mask and gloves. Though if you are wearing gloves please educate yourself about cross-contamination, if you don’t you are just wasting gloves that a medical professional could be using.  Distance Learning is becoming a reality for everyone from kindergarten to college. Many people have discovered they could have been working from home this whole time. Normal is now kids using video calls for playdates and events being totally online.

But I think it is important to remember that just like before, everyone’s normal looks different. Don’t feel like you have to have the perfect home office set up or you need to convert an area into a classroom for your kid.  Do what you can with what you have.

 Because you know what?  A lot of this sucks. Most of this sucks…..this sucks…

And it is ok to think that. It is ok to not enjoy every minute you are spending with your family.  It is natural to get frustrated during this time. Day drinking is perfectly acceptable (don’t overdo it though).

Don’t compare your normal to what your friends are posting on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter. Your normal is just that, yours. And there is a good chance that the normal you have going right now is going to change as this pandemic progresses.  We have not experienced anything like this in recent history, there is no playbook, there are no instructions. So don’t be surprised if you are not handling things as well as you normally do.  

But also, don’t be surprised if you are handling things relatively well.  Humans are surprisingly resilient. We will survive this if we follow what the experts tell us. So:

• Stay home (if you can).
• Wash your hands. 
• Remember distancing your self physically doesn’t mean distancing yourself emotionally. 
• Call friends and family. 
• Use zoom or Google Hangouts or some other app to see people. 
• Read a book
• Watch a new show
• Do something creative
• Do nothing and enjoy it

And most importantly be gentle with yourself as you navigate this new, ever-changing normal

Quarantine is A Scary Word(A Poem of Sorts)

Quarantine is a scary word. 

So we change it to Social Distancing and no one listens.

We shut down schools to keep kids safe and they congregate in other places.

Spring breakers can’t resist the idea of a party so they endanger themselves and others high off the hubris of youth.

Some leaders pay us lip service and do nothing.

Some leaders lead and suffer heavy criticism.

Truck Drivers drive to bring us what we need and still can’t get a meal at a drive thru because in the dining room is closed and an 18 wheeler won’t fit through a drive through.

Medical staff still do their job knowing it means they may not be able to interact with their only families while people complain about “too much” family time.

Teachers struggle to learn a new way to teach, while parents finally get a glimpse into their life.

Employers full of self importance consider themselves “essential” while firing people who can’t come in.

Grocery store clerks become heroes, risking their health for your weekly grocery list

Pharmacists are forgotten heroes, filling more prescriptions than they thought they ever would.

The vulnerable sit and wonder why it seems ok that they are the “only” ones in danger and everyone seems ok with that

We all scour the internet for news, but then half of us ignore what doesn’t agree with our own opinions.

 Quarantine is a scary word.

Covid-19. It is here. It is very much here and very much disrupting our lives.

Covid-19. It is here. It is very much here and very much disrupting our lives.

Before I go any further I want to say everything beyond that first sentence is strictly my opinion. I am not a medical professional of any sort, I think I have the average amount of common sense…ok, maybe above average, and like most opinion pieces you should take this with a grain of salt and move about your day.

Schools are closing, events are being canceled, whole sports seasons are canceled and of course, people are complaining. And I get it. It is stressful and frustrating and if we are being honest, scary.

People are scrambling to find childcare solutions, artists and the service industry are losing money and hospital systems are about to be stressed if they aren’t already. And many of us, probably most of us are about to be sick.

 

Fortunately, Covid-19 is something that most people will recover from, unfortunately, I do not fall in that group. But that is not what this is about.

More than that we are all once again seeing how unprepared we are as a society and as individuals. I mean I am all for taking life as it comes and not worrying about what-ifs….actually, that isn’t true because I have General Anxiety Disorder, but I like the idea of living a worry-free lifestyle.  But the fact is the words pandemic and quarantine made people lose their minds. And maybe it should, at first, but then we have to calm down and thein logically and listen to the experts and scientists. (because everything is not a conspiracy).

You don’t need all the soap and toilet paper, you just don’t.

And even being in a high-risk group I worry more about the logistics of curbing the spread of the disease more than actually getting sick myself. It is probably the event planner in me.

Things like getting my son moved home from college several states away because they have closed the campus for the rest of the semester worry me. How he is going to complete is labs and finals worry me, though I know that is not my problem to solve (I told y’all I had anxiety)

How is distance learning going to work for public schools that don’t already have a system in place?

In two weeks I have to go to a large military hospital to receive an immunosuppressant drug that I need to keep my Crohn’s Disease under control. I don’t even know how to handle that? I mean that is going to where the sick people are to get something that is going to make me more vulnerable. And there are people with way more serious conditions than mine that have to receive similar treatment. They can’t just stop.

What about our senior citizens? ( I have a soft spot for most old people) My grandmother is in her 80s and has an autoimmune disease and I am very concerned for her.

How many people will lose their jobs because of this, be at because of childcare or just because their industry suffers?

And do not even get me started on the lack of testing kits or the cost of testing. That is a whole different post and a rant within itself.

It’s a mess. The whole world is a mess right now. There are more questions than answers and more concerns than solutions.

But you know what? There are things you can do:

• Follow the advice of the CDC aka WASH YOUR HANDS…. A LOT
• Don’t share information on Facebook or Twitter that you haven’t fact-checked
• Don’t go out unless you have to – I know the kids are home and soon everyone will be stir crazy but now is not the ideal time for field trips and spending the day at the mall
• If you are sick and can stay home do it
• If you are sick and can’t stay home take all the precautions you can
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow
• If you can help out a neighbor or friend by watching their kids, do it
• Check the World Health Organization on a regular basis for updates
• Don’t hoard all the toilet paper…or anything else for that matter. Stock up if you can but don’t go overboard. Leave stuff for other people.
• Check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and see if you can run errands for them.
• If you feel sick call your doctor, ER, Urgent Care or hospital before you go to get seen. They will have protocols for you to follow. Follow them.

It is scary and it is ok to be scared. It is even ok to freak out a bit, but keep it under control. Take all the safety precautions you can. Be informed. Inform others.  And most importantly Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands.