Life in 2021 — Overcoming a World That Exhausts Us

Because my friends always felt I was a bit "weird" I adopted the truism "there's no such thing as normal!" many years ago.

Fast forward to August 2021, and a time in the history of the world where many of us might be starting to wonder whether there will ever be such a thing as a "normal" world, ever again.

No matter where we are, what we are doing, or where we want to go... it seems like the spectre of this thing called "Covid-19" hangs over us, in one way or another.

We might not be worried about getting sick or about the virus, itself, but even so it still permeates every aspect of our lives, all the time.

I realized that today, as I went out to run errands for an elderly friend of ours who recently gave up his car because his Parkinson's has made him shaky to the point where he was no longer comfortable driving.

Kudos to him for recognizing that it was time to give up his license.

But the point here is that I once again found myself "prepping" to head to several locations around town to pick up his laundry, some organic drinks and a few groceries from the market.

There IS no such thing as "just leaving the house" anymore... everything requires forethought and some semblance of preparation.

My friend Ann, the therapist, says that the mental health profession actually have a thing they now refer to as "Covid Fatigue" which has nothing to do with depression or anything like that... it's just a general weariness at having to deal with a world that has all these controls and restrictions in place that we have to keep in the front of our minds at all times.

We may not actively think about it, but it tends to tire us out because it absorbs — all the time — a little bit of our emotional and mental "bandwidth."

I realized today — as I ran errands for our friend — that I am affected by this, as well.

And I don't really have a solution, aside from making a conscious choice to leave the house less, and focus on at-home activities more... which we are now doing.

This, I suppose, is the new world in which we live...

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your weekend!

How about YOU? Is the situation around you making you feel weary and more tired than usual? Will there ever be such a thing as "normal," again? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20210808 01:00 PDT
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