Has the Covid Pandemic Made You Re-Evaluate Your Own Life?

What Is Your New Reality In the (Almost) Post Covid Culture?

Who would have thought? Life is clicking, everything is in sync and we were all doing our thing. Work and play seamlessly blending together. Cares and worries, that for most part manageable. Our focus on desired or pending accomplishments, getting ahead, achieving goals, planning for the future. School, work, relationships, family, staying well, binge watching Netflix, baseball games in the evening, going to your favorite restaurant.

We initially heard about that illness on the other side of the world, a Chinese thing - started in a market - but that’s way, way over there. Before we knew it, things started going global, and all the dots were starting to connect.

And then the ‘hoax’ component. All exaggerated stuff, blown out of proportion, politicization, rumors - not really anything to worry about. Just a few cases out west or on cruise ships. Just old people - right? Under 30 people in all - and we heard the rest were getting better, everything was under control, and that would be that. Keep the rest of it in China. We blocked travel off from there.

But Then - Covid Came to Your Own Neighborhood

All of a sudden, things changed. More pockets of illness, scattered through states. Getting closer. Oh - it is close, nearby actually. Then there was that Thursday when something in the air told you to maybe go buy some food at the market - a bit more than your typical shopping. Enough for a few days or week or two. There were more people than usual in the store. You put some pasta and rice in your cart. Some frozen stuff, cans of things. Enough deserts for a few days. Do we need toilet paper? Hey, might as well. Seems like others are doing that, so why not join that club.

Then the very next day, panic with a small ‘p’ is permeating around. Some stores are closing just to be safe. Your yoga or Tai Chi class has been cancelled. You are kinda reluctant to go to the gym. You can’t visit a family member who is in the hospital. Someone sneezed in Barnes & Noble and you quickly went down the next aisle. You stopped again at the supermarket because you saw an abundance of cars there - and now in addition to the toilet paper - paper towels, olive oil, eggs, pasta, soap, bread, cheese & meats were gone. So you got into the non-holiday shopping spirit, and got a cart that you were now afraid to touch. It was a random and moderately frantic shopping - get some more of this and some of that. Like the grocery store obsession before a big snowstorm - a really big upcoming Covid blizzard.

But then the news got more and more troublesome by the hour.

The Reality of Covid Made Us Instant Germaphobes

You wake up the next morning and it hits you. Things could actually get really bad. The ‘we have it all under control’ turns to ‘it’s gonna get worse fast’. Things start shutting down. Schools, and events cancelled. Rock and roll tours were cancelled. Broadway shows shut down, movie productions end. Test kits are unavailable. Italy is a tragedy. China is reeling. We are following that trajectory too. The supermarkets are now getting low on everything. Offices are closing, kids are home from school, college campuses are empty. Stores that didn’t sell food are virtually deserted. Less cars on the road. People start staying home. Confusion and worry. What happens next? Unknown territory. The six foot rule. The masks. The soap, the hot water. The disinfectant wipes. Wiping down groceries, afraid to handle your mail. Hand sanitizer, alcohol, bleach, even a half empty plastic bottle of Witch Hazel becomes very precious. And toilet paper is the new currency.

People just like you are sick. Some dying. Most getting afraid. We have never experienced anything like this. We liked to watch disaster movies of similar situations. That was just for entertainment. And things almost always worked out OK in the end. What is the climax of the screenplay we are now living in though?

A Covid Cultural Time Out?

Why is this all happening?

You start to wonder about life. You feel fragile and not so much in control. On the news, in the past, it was often just happening to the other guy. Too bad about the hurricane down there, or the tornado in that other state, or the flood in that far away city, or the shooting in that distant school. Glad that’s not here where we are.

Now it is. And it is an equal opportunity virus - rich and poor have the same resistance.

My old Italian Grandfather used to say that there ‘was a little good in every bad.’ This will certainly change us all. When you worry about not being able to get enough food and necessities, it overrides trying to get ahead, move up the business ladder to the step that holds your perception of success. Of getting the diligently researched perfect new TV, or car, or phone, or Instant Pot.

Nature is forcing a time out. Parents give that to their children when they get out of control, and can’t reel it all back in. When they do things they should not do, or when they are mean and not thinking enough of others. Nature is now Mom.

Coming Out of the Other Side of the Pandemic?

And here we all are now. The numbers started to go down. A more infectious strain hatched and was not as devastating. It blew through and then seemed to dissipate. Then a new strain, more infections, not quite as lethal. Many are vaccinated, there are new therapeutic drugs. Cases are generally not too bad. But there is still the future unknown. It appears that the worst is over.

Moving forward once again. Just like any trajectory - perhaps with some re-evaluations and a modified mindset. There may be set backs. Inevitably. It has toughened us up, however. We went back into our lives, and many have discovered that there were some aspects of the past that they wanted to discard. Habits. Fears. Many seem more capable of taking chances, changing things, and finding a new direction.

What Does It All Mean for You?

When we have a lot of unstructured, unscheduled time on out hands, it is much easier to bring our thoughts and focus to a different place. Think about your life. About what you have been doing. Is it really what you want? If not - what is missing?

Is that ‘thing you’ve always wanted to do’ still being kicked down the road into the future? If so, this can be a time more than ever to re-think where you are going. Maybe get comfortable taking some more chances. Perhaps realize that true fulfillment is more important than working yourself into exhaustion - all for the wrong reasons. That frantic pace slowed down a bit.

Use this time wisely. Be real with yourself. Life is fragile, and the longevity of it is not guaranteed.

What Creative Endeavor is Now In Your Mind and Your Heart?

An artistic project? A tech project? An exploration project?

It’s time

The time to realize your vision. No one else can do it for you. You may not know how to get started, how to place it within your current life, and wonder if it is practical or will be successful.

As a creative person who is often coaching others on how to start and complete their creative desires, I’ve got a clear overview of how to go about such things. You don’t have to have all the answers when you start. Your creative endeavors are not run like a business that is compelled to back every decision and move with data - as if to justify that the idea will succeed. Just because they do that - does not at all guarantee success. On a trajectory for a creative project, I feel it is best to map out some initial necessities, and then have the confidence that anything unknown, or potentially problematic, or a set back or disappointment - will just be expected problems that you will solve at the moments they might appear.

The vision you have in your head may be somewhat vague - as far as all the granular details go - but will most likely be relatively clear in its global qualities. It may just be the fantasy of tons of people looking at and loving your paintings, or photographs, or your movie, or stand-up comedy act, or hearing you perform your music, seeing your acting or performance art. Being blown away by your technical creation. Being enamored with you, and what you do.

It may not be easy to get there and you will certainly experience some set backs and disappointments. You can muscle through them.

Dreams That are NOT Quarantined!

If you keep having dreams of doing or embarking on something else - you can let them out of quarantine. That habitual life may not be sustainable any longer. During the pandemic, nature had given you a big time out. When Moms give their kid a time out, they expect them to reflect on what they were doing wrong - so feel that Mother Nature expects the same from you now. Hopefully, that time of living a slower, introspective, more isolated pace will now make you focus on things that you have always wanted to do. There were always reasons not to do them. These reasons may not hold up anymore.

If you need encouragement, a practical view of it all, an evaluation of your situation or your creative desires, and a clear trajectory to how to make it all into something real - then read more about what we can do together, and just call me. You certainly have got the time now.

You had to quarantine your physical being.

Don’t continue to quarantine your dreams!