In the last five years, the world has gone through significant changes. The situation between Israel and Palestine, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and, of course, the pandemic.
When COVID-19 first reared its ugly head, not too many people believed that it would become the terrifying tragedy that it did. A worldwide plague in the 21st century? That couldn’t be possible! But it became a reality—a very fast-moving and devastating reality—and even though the world has tried to get back to normal, much has changed.
Remember how the idea of closing schools and businesses seemed completely preposterous? It appeared to me like something impossible to achieve while still living comfortably. However, people adapted, and soon everyone got used to online classes and doing work at home. It was sad that we couldn’t go out to dinner, and it was bizarre to see fights break out in grocery aisles over toilet paper, but people still accepted it, eventually, and sought connection with others in new ways. I found it inspiring how well society coped—for the most part. Yet, coming back to life as it was wasn’t going to happen.
There are the obvious changes, of course. There are people dealing with long-term effects of having COVID. There is grief everywhere over losing loved ones. There are businesses that never opened again, it seems like there are no walk-in clinics anymore, and many doctor appointments are now over Zoom. Many people have decided that they enjoy working at home much more than going into the office, and there’s been a good deal of discomfort about having to commute to work again.
There are also the less obvious changes. Some think that spending two years having to monitor behaviour (are they wearing a mask, or coughing in public?) has given more people a “put myself first” attitude that didn’t exist before, as well as being more likely to make quick judgments of others’ behavior without taking into account current situations. Others have said online bullying has increased since the pandemic, but to me it’s always been escalating.
It’s interesting to look around and take stock of what has changed. It’s part of human progression to have change, and we adapted surprisingly well during the pandemic, much more than many expected. Returning to anything is always a shock, but it’d be great if we can recognize what is good to come back to and what changes are healthy for our futures.