In actuality, there is no “new normal”; anyone’s “normality” is an ever-evolving here and now. Extreme events may happen that in turn present extreme challenges that in turn engender extreme emotions, all of which take time for us to evaluate or understand in order to find an optimal path through. Some of us succeed better than others; some find the challenge too difficult.
On a personal level, I’ve lived through several wars while I lived in Israel, the first Gulf War probably being the most life-changing inasmuch as for 6 weeks we were forced to live from 6pm until 6am in hermetically sealed rooms in order to withstand nightly SCUD missiles fired at us by Saddam Hussein. We were allowed a 2 hour daily slot for supermarket shopping and had to go everywhere carrying gas masks. It fast became our normality and returning to a life before that did come to pass, albeit with changes to both life and us as individuals.
Wars, as with COVID-19, become part of our individual life experiences. We learn and grow each in our own ways. Nothing, however, returns to how it was before; it’s simply impossible.
Not sure what to say so much of the time these days, but I know I very much look forward to these insightful essays.
In actuality, there is no “new normal”; anyone’s “normality” is an ever-evolving here and now. Extreme events may happen that in turn present extreme challenges that in turn engender extreme emotions, all of which take time for us to evaluate or understand in order to find an optimal path through. Some of us succeed better than others; some find the challenge too difficult.
On a personal level, I’ve lived through several wars while I lived in Israel, the first Gulf War probably being the most life-changing inasmuch as for 6 weeks we were forced to live from 6pm until 6am in hermetically sealed rooms in order to withstand nightly SCUD missiles fired at us by Saddam Hussein. We were allowed a 2 hour daily slot for supermarket shopping and had to go everywhere carrying gas masks. It fast became our normality and returning to a life before that did come to pass, albeit with changes to both life and us as individuals.
Wars, as with COVID-19, become part of our individual life experiences. We learn and grow each in our own ways. Nothing, however, returns to how it was before; it’s simply impossible.