As we slide into the Easter period, regardless of whether you partake in the religious aspects of the occasion or not, there is no denying that Easter 2020 looks completely different to every other Easter before it.
The past month, in particular, has been tumultuous. Our worlds have been agitated in a spin cycle, without a timer setting to indicate when the load will be done. We’re living in a paradox where heavy and sobering regulations and restrictions walk arm-in-arm with a state of extreme flux and uncertainty.
Yet, for all the new restrictions dictating how we must necessarily live now, there comes a new kind of freedom for some of us.
Speaking with many colleagues and friends has turned up a surprising plus side to our ‘new normal’. Notwithstanding the devastating impact of widespread illness and death wrought by COVID-19 on individuals, families, communities and our global village, the ‘pause’ we are all experiencing is opening the door for us to choose, as individuals, to re-set our lives.
Self-isolation has given most of us a Hall Pass from our hectic lives. Self-isolation has necessitated a stay-at-home routine where there are few urgent work deadlines, reports and meetings. Self-isolation has deleted all of the KPIs, targets, budgets and competition – with individuals and for lucrative clients/contracts. Self-isolation has eased *some* of our daily pressures – and we CAN take that time out, without judgement, without recrimination and without guilt.
Our ‘new normal’ has given many people a second chance, an opportunity to re-shape their future. Were you really happy in your job? Were you working in the industry you really wanted to work in? Were you eschewing your true passion for a healthy pay packet, and sacrificing so much in the process?
Are you embracing YOU in this pause? Are you nurturing you? Your family? Have you found a ‘new normal’ that doesn’t feel so bad. Have you found time to breathe, to think, without feeling pressure to perform?
Don’t feel guilty if this sounds like you. It’s trending!
People who never had the time before, never found the time before, are discovering that there are some pluses in this extraordinary pause in our lifetime.
Yes, there is fear and anxiety in spades; there is the uncertainty and worry created by job losses and financial losses; in fact, there is so much to concern ourselves with right now, and justifiably. Your story will be different from mine, and mine from the next person but, collectively, our fears are real and legitimate.
But there is hope. You may just discover the old you again. The one who had dreams. The one who had plans. The one who laughed and enjoyed ‘living’ not merely ‘existing’.
The playing field is level now. Across class, colour and religion. Across nations. Across employment and social hierarchies – one curve has definitively been flattened. Are you entitled to JobSeeker or JobKeeper, or some other type of social security? Has your property value dropped? Has the bank given you a ‘holiday’ from your mortgage? Are you going to take up the rental moratorium? We are all in the same boat now. Level-pegging.
According to the experts, it’s still early days. We’ve adjusted well to our new routines … working from home; grocery shopping with a purpose, and quickly; observing mandatory social distancing and hand-washing rituals; keeping away from family and friends; watching Netflix; playing board games; home-cooked meals every night; home schooling.
And, at a time when so many of us would be holidaying … Easter combined with school holidays … either at home or overseas, we are housebound. Not because you can’t afford a holiday, not because you don’t want a holiday, not because you have to work through the holiday.
There is no travel. NO TRAVEL.
While you contemplate up-skilling; housekeeping; changing careers; moving to a new region; your next holiday; your spiritual focus; your health; your navel … whatever ‘space’ you are finding yourself in now during this restrictive flux … take the time to forget about the ‘what ifs’ over the Easter break. Wind down, accept the Hall Pass and all the restrictions that must necessarily be the trade-off for that downtime … and find the time and the space to breathe. Enjoy the respite from the tumult, even just for a few days.
Stay safe, stay well, stay at home and stay in the moment.
