Getting to The New Normal

It's been almost 3 months!

Since the world around us changed, suddenly....leaving us all gasping in disbelief and fear.

Nothing happens unless something is moved - Albert Einstein

The world has indeed moved and I think everyone and everything is gearing up for the new realities as they have started gradually unfolding. I am there too and trying to be as open as I can.... to these new norms. For someone terribly claustrophobic, I have now started going for my evening walk wearing a mask. It's terribly uncomfortable and makes breathing a struggle, but that's the only way I can step out, so tough luck.... I am making new choices.

I think by now, we all have accepted that "normal" is going to have a new meaning. And I think once the horror and disbelief left us, we all have started the process of adjustment, within ourselves and our homes. We look at ourselves differently now, we look at our loved ones with a fresh pair of eyes  (though some partners are also reading up divorce laws!!); we have started finding ways to seek Life within closed doors, even happiness and fulfillment. 

Some dance, some cook, some read, some write ..... we are all trying different things to stay positive and happy. Most of us are continuing to work real hard to turn around our bruised businesses and finding innovative ways to do so. Technology has finally married Education - a match that was being toyed around for a long long time. I am simply amazed at how innovative even small businesses are becoming to be able to ride the tide, tweaking their age old ways of working and thinking to be able to survive this downturn. True, not all are being successful, but all are trying hard; yes, there will be reshuffling of what will work and what will need to stop. But there will also be new opportunities. And that's the key thing for me - we are all in our own ways, attempting to adjust to this massive disruption and not just adjusting, but finding ways to get on with it. That to me is the manifestation of the indomitable human spirit which has saved us since time immemorial.  As it will again. 

Everyone I have spoken to in the last few months is talking about transitioning to the new - some more willing than others. Not moving or hoping our world we knew in 2019 will come back is no longer an option. 

As with all Change, I know there will always be early adapters - the few brave ones that will proactively move the dial. And there will also be the disbelievers - the few cynical ones that will hold on fiercely to old ways and try and highlight every risk possible in these new times. Most will be in between and weigh their options more cautiously. Thankfully, History has shown that gradually the masses do move as well and actually so do the nay-sayers, even if they are the last ones to hop onto the bus.

So whilst The New Normal takes shape, where are you in the process of your personal change?   

I believe a lot of us have started to set the ball rolling ..... I see businesses rushing to change tracks .... I see governments and polities realize the intensity of their actions and act or bumble through what they need to do. 

Naturally, what interests me the most are the changes in human behavior and in the ways we connect socially. 

There is definitely a slow down in the pace in which the modern world had begun to spin. And while the earth is healing fast, so are we. I am enthused by the way people are reaching out to each other in these uncertain times - not just to close ones, but also to those one had almost lost touch with, without meaning to. I am touched by the way people are connecting to those they may have hurt or side-stepped in the maddening race of before, as if seeking redemption. I am excited to witness this strong surge of communal feeling - like we are all in this together - that will for sure, help us weave our new relationships. 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to renew, to reboot. And I sure hope we are all making good use of it. 

As for me, I was anyways ready to step into the next chapter before Covid-19 hit us between the eyes. Now, this is seeming like a prep time to draw up what I would like to fill that next phase with - revisiting earlier plans and priorities to see if they still make sense, considering new options, doing new things, and building a whole new blueprint, remaining open to what might be....

This pandemic has hit us harder than anything else in my lifetime. But like all the strife before, this too shall pass and I  pray that the New Order that rises will be much better than the one we left behind in 2019. The wonderful human zest for life gives me Hope. 

There will be good stuff ahead - a lot of it. We must remain open. 

And whilst we wait, we must renew ourselves so that when the doors open, we are ready with a brand new version of us, too. 

Keep shining and stay safe <3