A new normal
I think back to a seemingly ordinary day, and it brings the remembrance of a strange gloom. The radio shuttered, in prediction of bad news, right before the presenter announced the first case of covid-19 detected in South Africa. The sound travelled across the room, ringing in our ears as we stood still. As time passed, the statistics quadrupled, along with our fears which were literally masked in a charade as we settled into the sentiment of a new normal.
The beginning feels like eons ago, and as I struggle to remember the events that followed, I stumble on the melancholic feelings that arise in memory of it. Change is intermittent and although we tend to adapt, it is always difficult to accept when something gnarly happens. The first case brought a wave of panic, and none of us were ready for the kind of waves it led to. The mass hysteria caused by social media and paranoia left the shelves of grocery stores bare, and this did not help those with holes in their pockets. The first sight of stepping into a reality of people wearing masks with sanitizer attached to them brought a tingling sensation to my spine.
In a matter of days, the faith of our country rested in our hands as we prayed after the president announced a nationwide lockdown. I think that back then, we assumed this would be a phase that eventually passed but it has been months now and as far as the human race goes, we are fairly able to keep a 1.5 metre space between us while running. Unfortunately, the adrenaline took a while to kick in and we spent months feeling agitated as we waited for things to get better, the ban on cigarettes and alcohol took a toll on some, but that paled in comparison to those who lost their jobs to retrenchment and the digital apocalypse which redefined social gatherings.
In the midst of the chaos we faced as a nation, our youth suffered more severe unemployment, while the young endured the strain of the education system. Learners were forced to exercise the discipline of studying from the comfort of their bedrooms, using online learning tools without the familiar presence of their friends, until it was safe enough to attend school.
The gradual transition into the digital era began to transform our daily lives, as we adapted to working, shopping, ordering food and even writing exams online. For some time, it felt as if we were evolving into robots, but amid all the loss and uncertainty, we clung on to light humour found on social media, and it carried us -through. Stars were born on the TikTok app, we baked with a dozen different recipes of banana bread, and I like to believe that the little hope we had brought us all closer.
The virus itself presented each of us with a unique experience, and our front-line workers faced a wrath greater than we can commend them for. The tenacity of each wave adjusted the alert levels, which changed as the statistical curve danced to the tune of our actions. We spent months in the confines of our homes, mourning the death of loved ones behind a screen of glass.
There is no doubt that the past two years have changed all our lives in ways we could never have imagined. The upside to it is that we do not have to make excuses to stay at home or prepare for visitors. Many of us have adapted to avoiding large crowds and practicing physical distancing. We have come a long way from being overwhelmed at the sight of wearing masks, to not being able to leave home without one. We might have lost family and friends in the war, but I believe that each battle we faced during this time has taught us to be more sincere in our actions.
The rollout of vaccines offered a renewal of hope, along with the possibility of things going back to the way they were. The virus took us all by surprise and we do not know what the future holds from here on, but we have to be grateful for the time we had to spend on the things we never had time for before, it allowed us to become more aware of our emotions with all that was happening, I used the time to reflect and express myself in art and poetry, this has changed my perspective of life and the beauty wrapped around the fragility of it.
