Think back to pre-9-11. You could walk right into courthouses and other government buildings. Flying somewhere? You didn’t take off your shoes. You could pack a whole bottle of full-size shampoo on your carry-on. But now we have a new normal and none of us expects flying to ever go back to how it was on Sept. 10, 2001.
Things are Changing Rapidly
Now there’s a new crisis and things are changing rapidly. I hope you already realize that life is not ever going to be the same again, because I don’t believe in false reassurance. But there will be a new normal, and life will go on.
There are two kinds of people in the world right now: those who are scared and those who are not scared yet. It is impossible to understand the situation without fearing for the well-being of our loved ones. Soon, we will all know several people who have COVID-19. Most of us will get it. Ultimately, we will all know people who died of it.
The Economy is Depressed
The economy is going to be depressed for some considerable length of time. Many of us will lose our jobs and some of us will lose our houses. Things will change and I do not know what the new normal will look like, but I know we’ll get there.
But we have been through this before. Well, not me and probably not you, but our great-grandparents did. The Great Depression in 1929-1939 involved deprivation we can barely imagine, but we can look back and see that we learned lessons and re-built our society in a better way. We changed bank regulations. We established Social Security. We established job programs. We will pivot and restructure and improve our society after this crisis, too.
Still, We have Advantages our Grandparents and Great-Grandparents Didn’t
In some ways, we are better off than we were during any of the past plagues the world has faced: We have the internet. Can you even imagine not having the easy communication and information network we now have? We can “see” a doctor or therapist via telehealth! We can get the latest information on the pandemic. We can check in with our loved ones far away. Many of us can work from home. We can transfer money online. We can get food and necessities delivered to our homes. We have 24/7 entertainment available in the form of ebooks, movies, TV, music and more.
If you are holed up with your kids, you’re probably stressed because you cannot visit the park, you cannot visit friends and you are trying to keep up with the children’s education. Unless you already were a homeschooling family living in a remote location, you are probably thinking you did not sign up for this crap.
If you live alone and are facing weeks of solitude, you may feel lonely. You might wonder who will take care of you if you get sick. Everyone is facing a unique situation.
Bottom Line: It isn’t Easy
It’s not easy for any of us. I had a sleepless night last night. Maybe you did, too. Give each other some grace. If your loved ones are irritable, realize they’re scared and forgive them, and ask them to do the same for you. We are all in this together, even if we’re staying apart.
Don’t ignore the danger, but don’t let fear turn into panic. You need to think about your individual situation clearly and make good choices. You might need to make some extreme financial changes. You might need to learn how to cook more. You might need to learn how to do some things for yourself that you’ve never done before. But you know what? You can do these things. People who lived through the Great Depression were not any smarter or stronger than you are — before. After? Yes. They toughened up. We will, too.
People often say, “I could never deal with that,” when they see someone else who is going through a terrible personal tragedy. But it’s not that people dealing with a crisis are any better equipped. They just don’t have a choice as to whether or not to handle it, so they do.
I once worked with a woman who said she was grateful for her experience with homelessness, because after that, she understood she was capable of dealing with anything; nothing else fazed her.
I don’t think any of us will ever be grateful for the experience of living through a pandemic, but we can emerge with a new feeling of personal strength.
This is the takeaway:
- Times are tough and they will get worse before they get better.
- We are all scared but we can help each other.
- You can handle hard things.
- A new normal will emerge eventually.
Curvicality is Ready to Help!
All of us at Curvicality are dedicated to being a source of strength for you during this storm. We will keep talking about fashion and fun, because we all need a break. We’ll keep printing For Shits & Giggles, because we want to help you laugh occasionally. We will write about fitness, because we need to stay strong even if we have to do all our workouts alone. We are working on setting up an online support group, too. Look for details soon!
Do you have tips to share with others? Words of wisdom others could use? Prayers to offer? Please leave a comment below. In the relatively short time since Curvicality was founded, it’s rapidly become a community many of us draw a lot of strength from, and we want to continue to do that. Many virtual hugs to all of you!
