COVID-19: what if it is the new normal?
Illustration by Karolina Adams https://karolinaadams.com
I just got off the phone with a friend that told me that he didn’t remember being so hungover on January 1st. “What happened,” I asked? “Did you mix different types of alcohol?” “No, not at all,” was his response. “I just wanted to forget about 2020 and the pandemic and go back to my normal life.”
Like many of us, you might have celebrated the end of 2020 to forget about it, to put it behind you with the hope that 2021 would be better. Before sealing it away, what if it is the new normal? I’m not talking about COVID-19 itself. I’m referring to what we felt in 2020.
COVID-19, like the majority of external events, trigger emotions in all of us. Fear of being sick or anxious about an unknown future, angry for our normal life being stolen, depressed, and unable to cope with change. Some of us felt loneliness and sadness as we could not connect and see our family in person. Some of us judged others for not respecting social distancing or wearing a mask. The majority of us felt certain emotions in 2020 not knowing what to do with them.
These emotions didn’t appear like magic in 2020. Emotions have always been present; we just ignored them or pretended they didn’t exist in the past. Maybe for the first time, we were conscious and aware of our emotions, which is fantastic as emotions are a great source of information.
Emotions do not define us. They are simply a part of ourselves. Emotions are sources of information as they tell us something about ourselves that we can’t always see or understand through logic and intellect. Emotions are the messenger from our learned personality: our ego. Ego is the little voice that we hear all the time: the little voice that tells us to worry about the future, that makes us doubt ourselves, the one that drives us to prove ourselves, the one that forces us to feel like a victim, the one that makes us angry because we didn’t receive the attention, the recognition we thought we deserved.
Emotions don’t define us, but they can control us if we ignore them. Emotions are a sign that our ego is using the past to try to depict the future. Being curious and present with our feelings allows us a more objective perspective. When emotional, we lack clarity, we react, don’t feel in control, and the worst, our ego makes us believe that we don’t have any other options of behaving. Understanding that our emotions are the messenger of our learned personality helps us realize that we might have other options that are not impacted by other people or external events.
So, maybe 2021 is the year to take the resolution to be present and curious about our emotions like we did in 2020, so we can go through this pandemic without losing our sanity.
Next time you feel life is happening to you, take a breath; you could decide not to be a victim. Life happens. Next time you think you deserved a big vacation, a new car, or want to have a big BBQ party with all your friends and family but couldn’t because of COVID-19, be curious over the feelings and emotions that this external factor is evoking, because if you’re not, you will allow your ego and the emotions to control you.
Life happens, and it’s up to you to decide if you want to react unconsciously or learn from the situation.
This picture is provided by Karolina Adams which is an artist here in Arizona that engages in drawing to express her thoughts and emotions. Please visit her website to discover her art at https://karolinaadams.com
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