We as humanity know one thing… change is constant.
Making our way forward has been a curious process with the promise of a new day, new inventions, creations and innovation with creative pivots.
For much of humanity, the anticipation of returning to a life pre-COVID has been weighing heavily on everyone’s mind.
Everyone went through the process of shock and disbelief; grieving/mourning; feeling lost and uncertain; to the other side of ‘what will we do now in a world that is changing.’
This is a process that no one is immune to experiencing, no matter where you live in the world, and how your own bubble of your own world was affected by this pandemic.
Yes, we miss those wintery days of gathering at a charming pop-up village market, browsing the aisles of the creature comforts to bring something new home to try to get us to spring.
Yes, we miss those springtime flower fields and the promise of that first vacation break to explore new horizons.
Yes, we miss those long summer balmy days, where music concerts and festivals took us into lovely sunsets and crowded beaches, which we used to complain about and now see just how lucky we were to experience the ten hours of Vitamin D days, cookouts and picnics, enjoying events of the season.
Yes, we miss autumn, feeling the brisk air reminiscent of our back-to-school days, taking the fall strolls to coffee and tea houses enjoying all things pumpkin and long conversations with our friends with time passing by hours later to ‘what shall we go do next?’
Those were the days, and while we will experience some of this when we return, and have make-shifted during this time, it probably won’t be without the face masks, and ‘lingering’ in any one place too long, and sadly, much of our ‘old stomping grounds’ may have disappeared succumbing to their economic and business losses.
We may not be able to say, “I love coming to XYZ place, as I used to come here when I was little with my parents/family.”
We may miss some of the long-staying iconic local community gathering places to socialize, and instead have traded them for glitch-y frozen screen bandwidth exchanges instead.
We may miss handshakes, hugs and the human stuff we used to do to the degree we used to connect, as our new world may leave others more conscious of said connections and not give consent to this kind of interaction, due to safety.
We may have shifted our own perception in what it means to communicate more consciously with regard to the comfort zone of others, not just our own need for expression.
Embracing the reality of how each individual person chooses to live life forward from here is a very conscious choice.
We have to be compassionate and respect every choice as it relates to how everyone emerges from said pandemic. We may inevitably find ourselves in a ‘different world’ – where adapting the behavior of social-distancing has become such a new and adopted habit that there may be people walking 6 ft. or further from us even two or three years out of said pandemic.
We may find friends we used to travel with, have made decisions never to do so again.
We may find that people are deliberately choosing to LIVE DIFFERENTLY, realizing what they can do and do without, finding their own metamorphosis of individual life changes.
But what we must do is honor and respect each other’s choices – because we have not walked in their shoes, or experienced what they have, inclusive of numerous deaths or even experiencing rough bouts of the disease themselves, and making different choices going forward.
There has been much economic hardship across the globe, with many finding ways to bounce back and being more cognizant of where and with whom, they are putting their hard-to-find- dollars.
There is also the concept of TIME and what that means for every human on this planet in where they choose to invest said time, as many find their way to not waste it or finally give permission for themselves to enjoy it in ways they have not done before.
It is important for humans to not take things too personally at this point of the juncture, for our own purposeful evolution was to be conscious of what resonates better for our highest and greatest good.
This is as true for adults as it is for the adults making decisions for their children. There may be some kids who do not return to playgrounds with other kids – we may not see that going forward. We may see some finding productive ways to introduce socialization in more educational community ways.
There may be many offices choosing to keep all of their employees remotely safe for liability, insurance and well-being reasons, with the bonus of saving of commercial leases, parking, security, and such, with the focus of shorter work-weeks or more personal time, seeing the value of greater productivity when said balance is struck.
We have recognized that much of the world has adapted to new habits, new rituals and new ways of being and living.
These are just a few of the changes and LINKS in our LIFE CHAIN we see, or may not even fully realize in how we used to ‘tether ourselves’ to a way of existing, living and being . The evolved way of our choices in communicating differently from our own minds to our physical world is in flux, transforming every day. Our hearts have shifted to understanding more compassionately and yes, our soul’s communication consciousness in what we once deemed as ‘the only way to be or do things.’
As we shifted into adapting to new protocols of the pandemic, we had to change our communication to be clear about health and safety, for the well-being of ourselves and each other.
What we need to look at now once the world gets vaccinated, is that even with said vaccinations, we will not return to a life pre-Covid, for that is an old timeline.
Many humans have been in an on-going grieving process of said ‘old life’ with nostalgic glimpses of the past – as it is evident in news stories, social media and yes, even consumer purchases reminding humanity of what represents the ‘comfort zone’ of ‘perceived comfort/safety’ in what it once represented.
We’re seeing the retro-mode revive in ways that we have not seen in a long time, with new generations of online people discovering old movies, old music and finding ‘newness’ in the old – in what appears to be some Twilight Zone time shift dynamic. Old books and classic stories are being discovered in what is a hibernation quarantine binge-reading of said stories.
With the tragic and unfortunate death of many artists, some of their work is being recognized by a new generation and new audience for the very first time across paintings, poetry, music, film, television and theatrical performances as our stage venues have been closed.
Part of this is very exciting art revival is key to preservation of what was created for deeper appreciation and respecting what we had – from architecture and design, community, historic benchmarks and yes, even what was the ‘norm’ – which is no longer, which includes places our older generations of relatives once experienced, that are now gone.
So how do we release our tethered links and wishes for ‘this old life’ and gracefully change and adapt to the idea that even post-pandemic, we’ll have a world we don’t recognize in the same light as we once had before, pre-Covid?
The whole universal message is clear in that our humanity lesson was to see what we could do, who we could be, and look at possibilities of changing for the better in our human consciousness as well as our own soul evolution.
If this message has been lost on you or anyone you know, now is the time to embrace this change, because we have learned as world citizens that is our responsibility and consciousness to LIVE DIFFERENTLY.
It DOES NOT MEAN that you have to deny yourself of exploring ‘what was’ – for education, awareness and appreciation of the past is key to building a better future.
If you have been battling health issues during this time, you see how time has its own timeline and healing. What has been the most prominent thing you’ve learned about yourself and how you consciously take the time to recognize that every moment and breath is precious, and prioritizing of your mindfulness is not ‘something you do later when XYZ chores are done – or after you take care of ________(fill in the blank) rather, if you are actively listening to your body to do something, you do it now?’
How are you seeing broken systems in your own life (and the world you are exploring through your battle) that can be changed for the better and how you can be part of it?
If you have been overly conscious of your own habits in your choices of how you clean, live, practice safety than you were before, how mindful are you that you will KEEP these practices to prevent other illnesses, disease, and even the common cold going forward? What ways are you seeing how you can respect all of your loved ones in a way you did not before, now taking every action you do as something important to preserve human life, well-being and wellness?
If you have changed your work situation, how have you seen that work/life balance is key to your own mental health well-being, your emotional growth and your physical stamina to make time for what is more important than the electronic device in front of you?
If you have quarantined 90%+ most of the time, how have you changed your own appreciation of our planet, nature, respecting what you took for granted in recognizing that the world is indeed yours and that you can do better at taking care of it by being responsible and doing your part to reduce your own carbon footprint in recycling all those boxes you’ve received in your delivery shipments?
If you have witnessed your own sense of ‘space and time’ – how has this changed in the ways you articulate to yourself and your community in how you use these same precious 24 hours daily that we are given, in doing what is possible to maximize the value of said given day?
Our communication about all of these bullet points above is key to our own evolution and transformation, and our lives during this Covid-19 period was meant to have us see within ourselves and within each other, the exact changes that were meant to take place in RESPECTING human life, the planet, time, the connection to ourselves, honoring history, the past, pushing forth meaningful works to honor and understand each other and our words in what we express as individuals as well as a collective.
We can healthfully release our tethers and links to our previous life, with the full mind-body consciousness of what it is that matters to each of us individually, collectively and within our own communities of what we fight for, preserve, see through, and yes, adapt for the betterment of our world, each other and our efforts in respecting what was, in creating something that will be and finding the beautiful harmonic balance of honoring both in a new way, through our new tomorrow.
Sending blessings, love, light and insight to you, Lovely Souls.
Namaste.
Stacey Kumagai
