Learning to challenge…

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The more things change, the more they stay the same. 

It’s been this way now for over two years. One step forward and a multitude of steps in reverse. Sure, I could throw out one tired adage after another as one day continues to roll over into the next one, but I’ll stop here. 

The numbness of this ongoing pandemic has altered my personality, in many ways. So much so that each time I embark on a specific bit of writing, it keeps navigating to how challenging life has been for so many since the beginning of 2020. 

I’ve come to realize that a great deal of complacency has set in, both in my life, and elsewhere. We’ve learned to live with a constant threat looking over our shoulders in the form of this ever-mutating virus. We have acquiesced to mandates, safe social behaviors, travel restrictions, empty store shelves, both a struggling economy and the sad, fragmented, individual who currently resides in the White House, tripping and falling through his presidential tenure. 

In my own circle of friends, we often look at each other and say, “when will this end?” Each of us longs for that evasive glimmer of hope, for the right answers and solutions that might help life return to some element of normalcy. In some ways, it’s almost humorous when we look back on our previous COVID fears, hysteria almost, that drove us into near hibernation. Now, we share how thankful we are because being vaccinated made getting one or more of the virus mutations…”so much easier!”.  

Will this be life going forward? Dutifully lining-up to get more and more boosters and our government will continue to orchestrate our survival; are we good with this?  Will we continue to remain nothing more than “test cases” in an ongoing quest to bring an end to COVID?

If I’ve learned anything, anything at all, at this point, it’s to question, to challenge, every damn element of authority with whatever time I have left in my life.

 

workshop-button-1From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop...Tell us about something you learned this month.

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Cockeyed optimism…

Gaynor

And…here we all are, more than one year after this virus insanity began.  At least most of us, and I’m not waxing sarcastically here.  My heart hurts still for those lost from COVID-19’s rampage, and for their families and friends.

In March of 2020, as the panic set-in, well, make that started sinking-in, people valiantly started adjusting to being at home, wrapping themselves in a cocoon of safety, and living with a fair amount of fear.  There was still so much unknown about this virus last year and, frankly, as far as I’m concerned, it’s still a ludicrous crap shoot with each news release and conflicting opinions shared by the medical field and media.

Looking back over my posts, almost to this same date a year later, I’m once again doing what I did last April, cleaning, re-organizing and purging.  But what’s different this time is that it’s for happier reasons, other than just passing my “virus-avoidance incarceration” time.  Family is coming, and not soon enough!  My Florida family, to be exact.  After not seeing them for two years, I’m pulling out all the stops, still proceeding with recommended caution, and plan to enjoy as much normalcy as possible.

Wow, that’s a loaded word…normalcy.  We have the old normal, temporary normal and, of course, new normal.  That last one sucks lemons, let me tell you.  I can’t wait for one year from today to write about what I was doing this year and how things have changed. 

Will we still be hiding behind masks? 

Was the vaccination process successful in controlling the virus? 

Will we be lining-up for booster shots to reinforce the biological preparations that were unceremoniously jammed into our arms? 

Did Joe Biden stop reading from Etch A Sketch when he gave speeches? 

Did Maxine Waters get shown the door in Congress? 

Oops, sorry, politics just slipped out.  My bad.  I feel that we’re moving past this damn virus blockade, slowly but surely.  Call me a cockeyed optimist. Sure, there will be setbacks ahead but none comparable to what this world suffered in 2020.  I have to believe that.  We all do.

 

workshop-button-1From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…Throwback Thursday: Choose a photo or blog post from a previous April…how have things changed?

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