A Changed World that Looks the Same
By Edy Nathan
There’ve been friends and family members of mine and perhaps yours, who’ve been sick or have lost their lives to COVID. Returning to work or to the workplace or to school seems unrealistic. For some, going back to work or to school, is unavoidable. Knowing there will be empty seats in the classroom, or a co-worker and friend who is no longer side-by-side at work can cause fear, anxiety, grief, and sadness. For parents, the questions are many. Is it safe for my kids to return to school? Do I home school? How do I do that and work from home?
Nothing has been spared by the Corona Virus, yet most of the physical world around us appears the same. Look at Summer: the blooming of trees, flowers erupting from their pods, eggplant growing in a pot, it’s all emblematic of summertime. These reminders of some type of ordinary, they fool me into believing that the old normal is right here, on my walk. I can be easily swayed into thinking this and then I see a mask on a face, or plastic coverings at the salon I pass on my walk. I remember, nothing is the same.
Separated and together. Work together and separate. Keep safe. Wear masks, yet find ways to unmask, a.k.a, be more real. We are a prism of complexity in a world divided and broken and unsure of a new next.
Has the need for masks made us realize the importance of contact, connection, seeing a smile, and feeling the other by what we visually see? Has it helped you take life slower or with greater perseverance?
