Is It Too Soon To Get Out of the “Pandemic Mindset”?

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. As we turn a corner with the vaccine rollout and lower rates of sickness in many areas, while I’m certainly grateful for that, I can’t help wondering that “going back to normal” isn’t a particularly great idea.

I have the potential to be a worrier by nature. My inherent anxiety and heightened sensory perception means that I’ve spent most of my life in a consistent sense of impending panic, because too much overstimulation sends my nerves into a frenzy — and in the world of 2019, there was more than enough of that. Life had become nearly frenetic, with everyone pressured to keep up a ridiculous pace, all in the pursuit of more money, more things, more experiences. I couldn’t do all that — mostly because I’m disabled and can’t work full-time, so the money bit was always missing, but also because I knew getting too involved in too much was bad for my health. So I was trying really hard to stick to my limits — and still on the verge of being overwhelmed.

While this last year has absolutely been difficult and not something I ever would have chosen or suggested (“Hey, I know how to get some peace! Let’s have a worldwide pandemic and make everybody slow the hell down!” said no one ever) — I have to confess, one thing I will miss is the idea of relaxation becoming socially acceptable.

As much as I truly appreciate the lessening of restrictions that may soon mean the chance to travel, to see people I haven’t in a long time, go somewhere other than home, I’m also pretty apprehensive about how “normal” we’ll get, how quickly. There were plenty of things about the “normal” we were in that I didn’t care for. Everyone keeps banging on about how much “things have changed,” and I have to wonder, have they really?

The amount of pressure my children used to be under to perform at “average” levels at school has absolutely altered; the need to protect their mental health is understood by a greater number of people than ever before, after nearly a year of “regular” folks feeling completely despondent and hopeless. Many people have admitted they would actually prefer to continue working remotely. Delivery is now seen as a beautiful thing, not as a nuisance additional charge.

And yet. More sports are opening up to spectators. All sorts of businesses are providing customers with services beyond curbside and virtual. Tourism may actually be a thing again. Some of this I’m ready for myself. But just the other day, I also found myself longing for the days when library patrons had to make appointments to browse, and the rules, although seeming strict, kept everything flowing with precision and a concrete sense of accomplishment when tasks were completed every day.

Attempting to dive straight back into “how life was” feels…dangerous. The things I used to worry about — huge crowds, traffic jams, a shortage of supplies, cancellations without a clear idea of rescheduling — are the things everyone worried about last year. So often in the past I was told that I was overreacting. The world’s foremost scientists didn’t consider it an overreaction.

We’ve been told repeatedly the past several months that “life will look different going forward.” So why are we seeing what seems to be a bunch of the same old, same old as reopening expands?