Returning to Life After the Pandemic

The pandemic is over! Well… at least that is how it feels for much of our country. We have had mask mandates lifted, proof of vaccination status mandates lifted, and many public establishments have taken away most stipulations for customers. All these factors have started to convey the hopeful reality of the end of this two-year-long pandemic. And with this hope for an end in sight, it is worth looking forward to what a return to life might look like.

What does returning to our old familiar world and life mean? Those who have been missing out on fellowship and community with others will start to regain that normalcy. This pandemic has created space between friends and family, not only physically, but also emotionally. That distance can finally start to close. 

The unexpected effects of isolation

About six months into the pandemic, I had a discussion with a close friend of mine. His wife was a nurse dealing with Covid patients each day, so they remained very strict with their quarantine away from friends and family. 

My friend then came across an unexpected struggle with this unusual amount of social isolation. He would have described himself as someone who does not rely heavily on social engagement, content with lots of time alone and with his wife. But during this phase of the pandemic, he told me that for the first time in his life that he started to feel some deep sadness and frustration. 

He thought quarantine would be easy for him; it wasn’t a bad picture, working from home and spending time relaxing with his wife. Instead, that extended time alone led to increased negative self-talk and intrusive thoughts—he was feeling the lack of his typical support system in ways he didn’t expect. My friend is certainly not the only person who felt this way during this extremely strange time.

How do we go back? 

I can see the unexpected effects of isolation causing difficulty for many people after these last two long years. As people gather more frequently in large crowds in public, the hope is that those difficulties and effects of quarantine can dissipate. 

It’s exciting for most of us to get back to restaurants, church, movie theaters, concerts, and many more activities that had been a big part of life. We can finally start to do some of the activities that we loved in pre-covid times. However, looking forward, it is important that we give leniency to others. The path back to normalcy will be different for everyone. 

During this transition back to normal life, large amounts of compassion for each other can help everything go as smoothly as possible. Even as mandates have been lifted and laws are being reverted back to their old ways, there are still some who will be hesitant to re-enter parts of life that they feel are non-necessities. This is completely understandable! We need to honor and account for this. 

As a world, we have gone through something that many consider traumatic. Most people do not like change and Covid created unexpected, unwanted, and confusing change. Walking through that trauma with your neighbor, co-worker, friends, and family could be exactly what they need to get back to their own sense of normal. 

We are still in this together

It was said across multiple platforms for two full years, “we are all in this together.” That is one thing that does not need to change. We can and should still be in this thing together. Love, pray with, and support each other as this pandemic comes to a close, to not only help ourselves but those we love as well!