Returning to “Normal”

Returning “Normal” to

WRITTEN BY LEAH PRATLEY ILLUSTRATED BY EMMA WILLIAMS DESIGNER ALEXA ANDERSON

The transition to normalcy has been strange. For starters, fewer sweatpants, more jeans and maybe even trying to do something with my hair before leaving the house. For the most part, I’ve genuinely enjoyed this experience and am taking any and every opportunity to wear colored eyeshadow and look a little extra for the average night out; but I’d be lying if I said it’s been a perfectly smooth transition.

A feeling of anxiety, one I haven’t felt in a while, takes over before almost every outing with friends. Even going out to dinner sends a ripple of panic through me. Can I post on social media? Is it irresponsible? What if someone is sick? What if I accidentally spread something to someone else? Admittedly, sometimes the anxiety alone makes it not worth going.

For myself and others, it seems that the adjustment back to a sense of normalcy is almost as difficult as the first major shift in quarantine. And, looking at the time frame, having a lifestyle entirely uprooted and then slowly set back in a single year is pretty overwhelming. Psychology has proven time and time again that routine and a perceived sense of control are extremely comforting and make us feel stable – even amidst uncertainty.

It makes sense that the lack of control throughout the whole pandemic is particularly anxiety-inducing – and yet, once we adjusted, could somehow be oddly comforting. Will I miss the absence of FOMO, every night being a movie night and the TikTok quarantine recipes? Maybe a little. Or maybe I’m romanticizing a time when I finally felt in control since the country first shut down.

Not to mention the added layer of productivity guilt that came with over a year in quarantine. Some people, like the founders of the up and coming Hangover Hoodies, started a business in quarantine and made it a successful career. Others discovered a new passion, finally worked on unfinished products or mended personal relationships. But what happens if all I did was go through the motions? I’m finding myself scrambling to come up with a miraculous invention or start a revolutionary blog.

The quarantine transformation pressure is at an all-time high as people begin emerging from their cocoons, and I know that, at least for myself, this pressure is overwhelming. But, I read something recently that changed my perspective. Yes, this pandemic has shown us that a single strain of disease can take the lives of millions, devastate world economies and tear people apart. But it has also brought people together – as cliche as that is. And, in another oddly comforting train of thought, the fact that the world could shift at any moment again is a reminder that we are more human than we think. We are not immune to the cards that the world deals us. This is why it is even more important to live every day from this point on to the fullest. Tell people you love them, and don’t forget to love yourself while you’re at it. Anxieties in this new age will be common, but trust your body and mind to adapt and change accordingly. This new normal may be strange and daunting, but embracing it makes it exciting and freeing.