Two or three months into the pandemic, we started speaking of a post-covid world. Although I was not imagining the pandemic would take so long, something was telling me this is not right. Somehow it seemed to me like that child playing and enjoying himself, yet who is constantly being interrupted by adults to follow their programs. It is important for us to find a ‘new normal’ it was said. It seems now we hear a bit less of the ‘post-covid world’ & of a ‘new normal’. The crisis is lasting longer and we have to stay in it, whether we like it or not.
In our rush to return to normal, we are in panic to skip the moment of crisis and achieve a new normal with an old system. In reality, it will take more time since a
“crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained.”
Vanette S.J
It is true that economies have to slow down, but can it be a time to re-evaluate and shift our economies? It is true that syllabi have to be reduced. But will this be truly a time when children will learn less? It is true that our health systems are stretched to the limit. But could it be a time when we shift to disease prevention than disease-fighting? It is true that fewer people are going to church but does it mean there is less faith?
Feeling like going in circles
On a certain level, we seem to be achieving less and that might be worrying. Our lives might look circular, going in a rut, not proceeding in our main objectives but maybe it’s not. What looks like circular might be in fact spiral. We might be distant from each other but is it necessarily true we’re losing our friendships? We might feel like talking less because of our covered mouths, but does that mean we need to communicate less? Maybe we are discovering that a smile in our eyes is in fact is of a greater value than a project achieved. Maybe lockdowns are not in fact all that bad, they shut us down for a greater longing, to “set our priorities right.“
“In times of crisis, we need to all decide again and again whom we love”
Frank O’Hara.
This does not mean that we need to isolate people, let go of friendships. More than anything else it means understanding the depth of our love. Embracing the present moment with a deep trust that there is a love which is present when our plans go haywire. Love which is present when an old system crumbles. There is love when we have to fully and, patiently wait for something as unreasonable as a toddler playing for hours on end with a piece of cardboard destroys our plans.
