Usually when writing the Last Word the two-week gap between finishing my words and the magazine hitting the streets doesn’t seem like much. I can feel confident anticipating what will be happening a few days in the future. Right now though, all bets are off! We seem to have reached a positive point, where transmission rates of COVID-19 are low and hospitalizations are decreasing. But where to next? It’s exciting to think that restrictions may be lifted and some normality return, but it’s frightening too. What is the world that we’re returning to going to look like?
It’s a relief that B.C. seems to have weathered this pandemic so well, with humanity, compassion and the typical thoughtfulness that I have come to love about our community. Especially interesting is the way people have just adapted their lives: we’ve become innovators in the way that we work, conduct business, socialize and connect.
Let’s not minimize the losses though. Thousands of people globally have lost their lives. Millions have lost their livelihoods. There’s also the loss of our own sense of security. Who could have predicted how suddenly life could change, and the grief we’ve all experienced seeing our ordinary, everyday lives cancelled, just like that.
As a planner, a daydreamer and a to-do list writer I’ve found it difficult to know quite how to handle myself. There’s nothing on the horizon: nothing to aim for or plan for. I’ve had to turn my attention to the immediate, and focus myself to take joy in the very small things that normally slip past in the rush to plan and achieve the big stuff. Dinner with the family every night; the garden coming into bloom; a walk around my neighbourhood.
How are you weathering the storm? What changes have you made to your lives that you think you’ll take forward into the future? I’m trying to lift my heart and feel optimism for the resiliency we will all have developed throughout this experience: if we can get through this, we can probably get through anything.
