Yesterday, in part I of this series of pandemic reflections, we reflected on the transition from pre-pandemic to pandemic life. This may have brought up feelings of sadness or anger. I hope you honoured those feelings without being overwhelmed by them. Today, we’re going to reflect on how our lives have changed during the pandemic.
What do you miss the most from your pre-pandemic life? What don’t you miss from your pre-pandemic life?
Here’s my reflection:
I miss the freedom of running errands without masks and hand-sanitizer. I have no problem wearing masks, and will continue to wear them during cold & flu season in a post-pandemic life. But constantly pulling a mask on and off to go in and out of shops is tiresome. It took my skin a long time to adjust to using hand sanitizer so frequently last year. Having to use different brands of hand sanitizer to enter each shop has been hard on my nose too. It’s a relief to get home and wash it all off my hands. Side note – the alcohol smell scented hand sanitizer is trying to disguise actually goes away pretty quickly, unlike the fragrances added to the sanitizer.
I have embraced the slowness of pandemic life. The lack of urgency, franticness, and hustle. People aren’t rushing around as much in over-scheduled lives. My family all live in western Canada, and we’ve been able to have more frequent video chats during the pandemic, because we can actually find a time that works for everyone in the three time zones we live in. I don’t miss being too busy. I prefer the deliberateness of doing things in the pandemic life; savouring the simple joys of life is more natural.
Photo credit: Tannis McCartney, fresh baked cookies in March 2020