The Lens:`
“I wish we could go back to these days.” This was the beginning of a friend’s memory post on Facebook. I see a lot of these kinds of posts these COVID days. Everyone is longing for something or someone they miss.
Most all of my family and friends are local. In normal times, if I want to see someone, we just pick a date and time. COVID has changed all of that. I don’t think I need the fingers on one hand to count the number of times I have seen my sisters as well as other relatives since stay-at-home orders came. I have seen maybe two friends, once each.
If you are following protocols, distance is no longer an issue when it comes to relationships. We lived in Texas for a few years in the 1990s. I missed socializing with my friends and family enormously. In terms of socializing, I might as well be living in Texas right now.
Then, there are life’s simple pleasures we all are missing. I have no desire to go out and do things I wouldn’t have thought twice about earlier. We have had a rash of neighbors installing searchlight quality light in their yards. I feel like I am center stage in my own bed when someone turns one on.
I would like to get some sort of draped window covering to help block out the light. It honestly just seems like so much work right now – between masks, social distancing, store crowd limits, people who ignore the protocols. Sure, I could try online shopping. But, this is one purchase where I want to see what I am getting. This is only one example of the way my life has changed in the last year.
Yes, we all wish for the pre-pandemic days. Not quite the same as going back to the good old days. (I stated in “Patience is a Virtue” that the “good old days” is a fallacy.)
Wishing for pre-pandemic days is a yearning for a return to a life not impacted/governed by a killer illness, not necessarily a return to a time period we think of as better days.
The Refraction:
As the light at the end of the tunnel of the pandemic is becoming brighter, I have been seeing related articles in the news. Some ask readers to share how they have been changed by the pandemic. Others make the point that we surely have been changed, that post-pandemic life will be different. We don’t know what or how different things will be but we know they will be different.
For all the talk of the return to pre-pandemic days, I have this nagging feeling we should never look to go back. There are certain truths. One of them is time moves forward.
We should remember our past, take joy in the good, learn from its lessons. We should live in the present, savoring or tolerating what life is dealing us. But, our eye should be on the future. Where are we going? Where do we want to be?
I was in my early 20s when I had my first corporate job – the kind where there are salary scales, performance reviews, etc. During one review, my supervisor asked (standard question I am sure) where I saw myself in 5 years. I had no answer.
That question has haunted me all of my life. Where do I see myself in 5 years? The older I get, the more haunting that question becomes.
Have you ever asked yourself where you will be in 5 years? If you haven’t, you should.
Eye on the future.
Yes, we are in a sort of COVID limbo. Even so, life is changing.
My husband and I visit the resort town of Twain Harte often. There is a restaurant there that evolved before our eyes. Pre-pandemic, this restaurant was always packed. You got there early if you did not want to wait for a table.
When stay-at-home hit, they went to take out. In addition, where they had dining tables before, they made a small grocery store with limited fruits and vegetables, pastas, dairy products, paper goods. I was impressed.
We just visited this last week and they have now erected a large pavilion-like structure to accommodate outdoor dining and a beer garden. It has an air of permanence, not like many of the parklets that have sprung up around San Francisco. They also bought a small lot next door to replace the parking they lost when they built the pavilion.
It took a business crisis to rethink their operation. At present, the outdoor area may only serve to keep them afloat. And, they will likely resume indoor dining when they get the green light. When that happens, with the outdoor seating, they will have probably nearly doubled their seating capacity from pre-pandemic days and likely significantly increase long term profits.
They weren’t looking back, biding their time until they could return to normal operations. They were looking forward.
Too often, we don’t think about change until a crisis hits. This has certainly been true of my own life. I made most of my life altering decisions when I was in crisis or profoundly unhappy.
I think this was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I let my life lead me instead of leading my life. Where do I see myself in 5 years?
Eye on the future. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?