The Old Normal May Not Come Back

I've been pondering variations of the phrase "things will get back to normal soon".

But I can't help but wonder, what if they don't go back to normal?

Do I think we can find a new normal in the midst of a pandemic? Absolutely!

Do I believe we will one day reach a new normal once more when the lockdowns end? Of course!

Will things go back exactly as they were before the virus brought our lives to screeching halts? My dear friends, this is not likely.

When a wedding happens, life doesn't go back to normal afterwards. Things change drastically for the couple. Two lives are blended into one. Two people learn to live in one household together. A new normal is formed.

When someone we love dies, we wonder how our lives can go on with a hole in our hearts. We notice the empty space they should have been. Life never goes back to the way it was before they died, but we learn to live in a world without them.

When a tragedy like a world war or 9/11 happened, big changes followed. Clean up and recovery didn't happen overnight. Lasting changes became new normals as the way we interacted with our world changed.

When we graduated from high school or college, things never went back to the way they were before. We now were required to navigate the world of "adulting". There was no way to retreat back into the carefree (or highly stressful) days of school.

There are moments in our lives when change occurs, where things will no longer be as they once were.

These make a lasting impact on us. They define us going forward. They leave an irrevocable mark on our characters and souls.

This pandemic is one such defining event.

When it ends (and yes, it will end), we will come out of our social distancing and lockdowns, changed, but still here. Grieving those we have lost, even as we rejoice at the simple joy of choosing to go to the grocery store as a family. Things will become a new sort of normal as we pick up the pieces of our lives again. Some pieces will be fit back together, bearing the marks of this trial. Other pieces will be discarded, no longer applicable in our lives tomorrow. And one day, after a new post-pandemic normal has been reached, we will look around and marvel that this new life has become our normal.