When they turn the gravity back on

Life buzzed with 6am yoga classes, daily commutes, morning drive-through coffee, school and work, errands and after-school couriers — always a mad dash to arrive somewhere. Life was a jaw-grinding, never-ending panic attack.

The year the world stood still, the lives of many, suddenly halted, as if someone turned off the gravity. Lives at full speed, now in suspended animation, a stop-motion car crash. Without the constant buzz of life, when that is all stripped away, when nothing but ourselves remains, what happens?

For ma ny, after a year, they languished — like a dimmer switch turn down to 25%, not completely depressed but far from thriving. It is not difficult to understand why: burnout, zoom fatigue, isolation, caregiving, virtual schooling, and loss. Some carried on, in a waking dream, like the world was as before. Still others are simply surviving in stasis, for life was already a car crash waiting to happen.

What happens when they turn the gravity back on? When they ask us to return to as before. What has stasis done to our mental, physical, and social health? Are we ready for re-entry, or will the forces of the world tear us apart? Is there anything we can do to prepare?

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