I think that the hardest thing for me right now is seeing everyone well and healthy around me and thinking – why keep doing this? We are ok so why not get back to normal? I know intellectually of course that we can’t, but in my heart it feels very surreal to shelter in place when Seattle is overall getting better. And the rest of the country and the world is feeling the same way.
But just like any good horror movie has taught us, watch out the first time you think you have slain the monster. As you start to go about your business, it suddenly reanimates and attacks again.
This is the time to be strong and not give in to temptation no matter how sweet it would be to come together, hug each other, and start to return to connecting once more. I wanted to say return to normal. But what is normal any more? Has this been so long already that normal as we knew it goes out the window? Do we even want our old normal back with materialism, Seattle Freeze, environmental destruction, and climate change nipping at our heels? Could we transform our cities now, while we are in a different mode into models of pedestrian and alternate modes of transit? With more people working remotely and less strain on our roads? With more cooperation and less “stuff”