New Normal

I want to make it clear that this situation we are in right now has far surpassed my expectations for my community and my state. The slow burn of this pandemic could have so easily become a wildfire and so far it has not. We are keeping the virus contained in Oregon and in much of the United States.

I am not saying that this is all rosy and good, but I want to give space and voice to the public health miracles we have been able to pull off. I don't pretend to have answers on what the other end of this looks like, and what the long term impacts will be. But I have seen so much good. Good in absence too. There is so much I had feared that is not happening and that too is a blessing, even if it is harder to appreciate. No news can be good news and I want to draw strength from that. Our brains aren't wired to acknowledge this in the same way we can grasp sudden wins or losses.

We are only just beginning.

It is our new normal. It's not a phrase I particularly like, and it is one I have heard backlash against. But it is accurate. We must transition from a state of emergency into day-to-day living that is sustainable. We can't live forever in fight or flight mode. So, without an end date in sight, we must adapt as best we can and make our lives in this setting.

This is a variation on yesterday's theme.