Two Years Later

It’s now been two years since the epidemic of the Coronavirus reached the United States. Exhaustion is palpable; I can hear it in souls and hearts. I often hear people say, “It’s been three years now….”, in a defeated tone of voice. 

In terms of the world, it is true. It has been three years since the start of the virus. But for the United States, it has only been two years. While making this distinction may be semantics, I feel it is an important point to make. 

Time blends together in a pandemic. It’s hard to remember what happened when. I saw a joke on the internet recently about the year 2019 being four years ago. I had to stop and think about that one. I knew it couldn’t be right. Yet, it felt right to me.

Thinking back to this time last year, the U.S. was in the early days of distributing vaccines for people at highest risk: those with compromised immune systems, and at 65 years of age or older. Vaccinations have drastically lowered the number of deaths and hospitalizations due to Covid.

I was fortunate to receive my first vaccination in April of last year. I received my second vaccination in late May, and my booster shot the week of Christmas.

In two years’ time we went from no vaccines in existence to one being available for every adult in America, completely free of charge. Additionally, children ages 7 and up are now able to receive vaccines as well. Only about 61% of the U.S. has been fully vaccinated. Sadly, Covid deaths have reached a grim milestone in the U.S.-over 900,000 deaths. That being said, Covid cases are down 62% nationwide.

There have also been several variants of the virus in the last two years, two of which are the Delta and Omicron. The most recent variant to appear is the Stealth Omicron. Each new variant has a higher rate of contagion than the last, with different effects on the body.

Thinking back on my life in the last year, so much has changed. I had a change in my job, and some of the people I work with have moved on. As such, I have been the one to fill all the holes in the schedule. However, I’m only one woman. I can only do so much. I am left with very little free time. I don’t have time to watch movies, to write, to continue my movie review blog, or much else. This change in my work/life balance has been a fundamental change in my life and unlike anything I have experienced before. It has had an effect on my free time, my quality of sleep, my stress levels, and more.

 
However, I am not alone in this. I would wager that no one’s life is the same as it was at the beginning of this pandemic. Many lost their jobs in the pandemic. Others chose to seize the moment and change their career, to start their own business and pursue their dreams. Too often than not, people are overworked and underpaid. Our stress and anxiety levels are through the roof. We are living through, and have lived through, a collective trauma. Our lives are forever changed and will never be the same.

However, it doesn’t mean that our lives won’t change. I’m reminded of a song called “For Now”, from the Broadway musical “Avenue Q.” One of the lyrics in the song: “Everything in life is only for now.” That is one of my mantras as I navigate through this pandemic. Everything we are experiencing is only for now. 

I have to believe we will get back to “normal”, whatever that means. This pandemic, and our experience in it, is only for now.

I saw two comforting posts on Instagram in recent months. I neglected to save the posts, but they gave me hope:

-The Spanish Flu pandemic was in 1918. What came after that? The Roaring Twenties, a time of celebration and wild abandon

-After the Bubonic Plague came the Renaissance. A rebirth, a time of renewal, experimentation and growth in the arts, the sciences, and more.

 
The world is in constant change, and we are changing with it. There are good times to be had. There is hope to be found. I wonder what the country, and the world, will be like next year, three years later. How will our lives have changed then? What kind of renaissance will be happening in the world?

In the meantime, we keep calm and carry on. Wear a face mask, get vaccinated, and reach out to everyone you love, and to everyone who loves you. That’s the only way we will get through this, together.

Sending and wishing you peace and love and light,
                        -E