R: Living in a surreal world of a pandemic, the other day I was thinking what a turn life had taken, since the infamous Corona virus hit us. We have come in and out of lock downs, in and out of the 'permission' of socializing/meeting other humans and almost always 'in' the uncertainty of how tomorrow is going to look like. As it has been said, we might all be in the same storm, but we are all not in the same boat.
And it could not be truer than it has been with the pandemic. If people have got to work in the comfort of their homes for some, the same comfort has been very enthusiastically challenged by having kids being homeschooled under the very same roof.
While jobs have been lost on one hand, those who have managed to keep their livelihood are still looking to beat the abnormality of the situation by indulging or maybe over indulging into other activities like baking, yoga, cooking etc.
All in all, maybe all of us are waiting to get back to lives the way it was before. For once, the end result or the goal is not in our hands, and we probably just have to wait and hope and pray.
However, when I look back to the one year, I also look at how many different experiences I have had, which I probably would not have if it wasn't for the pandemic. Some good, some not so good - nonetheless new experiences, new learnings.
Makes one think, are we always so busy , so 'focused' on achieving our goals, on reaching our destination that we lose the journey which takes us there....
S, what does your life journal say? Have you cherished the experiences on your way to a goal? ( I could cite so many where my journey was far better than the goal itself!)
S: I wonder why so many of us grow up with this idea that you have to have this goal in life. 'Be a go-getter'! 'Eyes on the prize!' Those of us who are dreamers could somehow never wrap their minds around that. And the fact that we couldn't, it felt like we were lacking somehow, as we saw others race ahead of us...pushing past us...determined to reach...wherever they were set for. They looked like they had figured things out right out of college. They looked like they had a 5-year-plan, then a 10-year-plan...and even perhaps a 50-year-plan.
It is only by now...when I am reaching middle age that I've learned to be okay with it. With my tendency to dream. To try out different things in life, never quite settling down on one.
Does that make me a rolling stone which gathers no moss? The Jane-of-all-trades-mistress-of-none?
I'm fine being her. I'd much rather enjoy the view from wherever I am right this minute of my life. To go where the journey takes me, not quite ending up where I'd vaguely intended on reaching.
Much like this answer, I would think? Have I even come close to answering what you were asking?!
R: S you got out of 'middle age' what a lot of us got out of the pandemic. :). The Pandemic brought about a lot of inconveniences, uncertainties and fears; however it also gave an immense amount of time and space to figure out what is really important to us and what we can very easily live without.
Because the circle of activities and circle of people around became smaller, we ended up valuing what we have, than ponder over what we don't.
Forget a 5 - year or 10 - year plan, I know for sure I cannot even plan for next month! 'Live in the present' is like written in my DNA now. And hence I hope that one day, when all this is behind us, the learnings from this stays.
S: Well unless I wasn't middle aged, I don't think I'd have been okay with watching life pass me while we all stood still during the pandemic! I'd be impatient and irritated for it to be over with already...as I'm sure a whole lot of people are. FOMO is real!
So yes, I am now ready to make peace with my life the way it is. But I do still worry about our kids who truly are missing out on a lot of things. It is easy to say that kids live in the present, and they'll be all right. I suppose time will tell.
For now though, I wouldn't mind taking some journeys - to an any destination. It has been way too long. (Preferably with a beach nearby!)
