2020 had a nearly palpable veil of continuous uncertainty.
Compared to some years, we had it hard.
Compared to others, we didn’t.
The best thing to do, of course, is not to compare.
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” proclaimed Theodore Roosevelt. Well, Roosevelt’s words are generally accurate, but I can think of an exception to his proclamation! With the creation of his Julian calendar, to realign the Roman calendar with the sun, Julius Caesar had to add 90 extra days to the year 46 BC. We can be happy that we are not adding any days to 2020 past our usual 365!
The Italian doctor, Aloysius Lilius, developer of the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, manipulated the Julian calendar, which was off due to a miscalculation by Caesar. However, he was still off by 26 seconds. Each year since 1582, a discrepancy of several hours has occurred. Think of that when you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve. By the year 4049, the Gregorian calendar will be a full day ahead of the solar year.
The COVID-19 outbreak wrought much disruption.
Our ancestors also had years of upheaval with famine, plagues, and wars. So when we talk about returning to normal, maybe we should consider there is no normal. We are continually acquainting ourselves with change and new opportunities. We have no guarantees that today will be better or worse than yesterday.
Perhaps, the “new normal” is that we will be more comfortable with the unfamiliar.
Look for the helpers, suggested Mister Rogers.
2020 witnessed the power of people to help each other. Against all odds, people have willingly stepped up to take action to make the world a better place. Humanity has more work to do to connect compassionately and equitably.
“Normal” has meaning only in context. The “normal” temperature of different animals varies by several degrees, and every human’s “normal” is not 98.6. I believe that “normal” has to do with routines we’ve trained our mind to identify. The knives are in the bin farthest left; spoons farthest right. Everyone’s kitchen is “normal” only for them.
2020 taught us that “normal” does change. As humans, we need many things to become routine. They must happen with little to no thought. We learned in 2020 that prior assumptions are no longer valid. We have to take a millisecond or two to assess if the current situation is different, and if so – how? This takes more brain power, is distracting, and disrupts the “more important” things our conscious mind was contemplating. (“More important” also being relative and contextual. Grabbing a knife from the wrong end can still be dangerous!)
Identify new routines. Expect them to change. Our minds are amazing things if we train them properly and use them effectively and efficiently. In a phrase, expect the unexpected.