The modern world is now clearly two distinct epochs: before Coronavirus (COVID-19) and after, normal and a new-normal, past and future.
We simmer in a mental haze, reflecting on a time when we didn’t wear handmade masks and gloves to shop at the market, swab down every surface that we touch or try to avoid the public. We evaluate who’s left fingerprints on anything before us, from the stock-person to the Shipt shopper. We are living in a mass panic on a whole planet level and for good reason- lives are at stake.
This global timeout of sheltering in place has us wondering how we will restore ourselves back to normal or forward to a new normal.
Taking shelter and working remotely has refined our definition of existence in the near term and possibly forever. With all due respect to our former scheduled life, there is now no rush to peel back the covers when an alarm chimes. It can all wait, just a few more minutes, while we give our bodies a moment to drop back into circadian rhythms and rest patterns established before the dawn of the anywhere-anytime movement. What seems like just yesterday, we begged for a 3-minute snooze and cursed at the red light for making us late. Let us formulate new habits that promise brighter futures, like sleeping more and sleeping better.
Sleep is primal, the base of Maslow’s hierarchy, actually. Without a sufficient amount— like 30% of a day or 7-9 hours out of 24, we are a shadowy version of ourselves. When we give our bodies the natural rest it craves, the new-normal will feel evolutionary, giving way to restoration, healing, and creativity.
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