“The new normal”, as everyone likes to call it, signals a transition to an uncharted future that’s utterly different than before. I’ll even wager many will start calling it pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19.
Cartographers wrote “here there be monsters” when drawing maps with unexplored parts, imploring would-be voyagers to tread lightly within those parts unknown. We are doing the same thing, albeit with a slightly friendlier term. The future is unknown to us, and we would do well to be extra mindful.
You’ve seen or heard or felt what I’m talking about. From digital hangouts to entry checkpoints, from home working to redesigned eating out concepts, our definition of normal was torn asunder, and now, in a matter of months, we desperately try to fit into a new pattern; a “new normal”. Because, whether we accept it or not, this virus is here to stay. Much like the common cold or HIV, which has been around for centuries and decades respectively with no cure, we simply have to learn to adapt and carry on.
As we read ahead about some of the good things people do around us to fit to form the new normal, I would just like to implore all of us to take this one step further. Establishing a new pattern of lifestyle is all well and good, but why not take it a step further and create a better normal instead. Be more mindful of your surroundings. Care more about people around you. Filter information before you share. Realise we (humans) are not the centre of any universe, and a microorganism was all it took to remind us. If we can improvise, adapt, overcome, then maybe the next pandemic can be prevented before it happens.
