Embracing discomfort through COVID-19
Joshua Hooks
A couple of months ago, something remarkable happened. I was going to the grocery store and as has become customary, I tied my double stranded face mask before leaving the car. But this day, unlike many before it, the act was almost unconscious. The tie behind my head, which for weeks felt clumsy and foreign, was finished in a matter of seconds, and I was out of the car before I knew it.
I know this sounds ordinary to many by now, but I am once again amazed by how quickly we, as humans, can adapt to a “new normal”. When faced with disruptions in life, as trivial as a stubbed toe or as major as a global pandemic, people manage to eventually recalibrate and carry on. Some take longer than others, and it certainly is not always a smooth transition, but I am constantly impressed by how quickly we collectively push through setbacks, changes, and tragedies with a desire to “keep on keeping on”.
While ruminating on this thought, it occurred to me that perhaps the harder thing for people to do is to resist the urge to accept a reality that feels outside their control. It seems to me that the desire to adapt and adjust to the current situation at hand is so incredibly human that resistance to that inclination is often the more difficult option. I think we make things “normal” for many reasons. Perhaps it is partly a survival instinct or partly a way to stay sane during chaos and hurt. The energy it takes to keep getting angry by a repeated injustice or to grieve a loss every time it crosses your mind would be debilitating. Paradoxically, keeping the pain of an issue at the forefront of our mind is what gives us the resolve to actively work against it and change our circumstances.
So yes, this is yet another plea to stay diligent. To endure the awkwardness of wearing a mask while visiting parents or grandparents. To delay or reimagine the amazing birthday party or baby shower that you had been hoping for. I don’t want anyone to get used to cancelling these events or even to get used to wearing a mask, to the contrary let the disruption, and the exasperation that you feel, keep the magnitude of this pandemic at the top of your mind.
The alternative is that we grow accustomed and numb to 3,000+ COVID-19 deaths a day, that we normalize super spreader events and jeopardize the wellbeing of the most vulnerable among us. While we have gotten much better at treating COVID-19, the daily reality is still severe and long-term consequences are still being determined. From the massive outbreaks and deaths that are rising in assisted living facilities, to recent studies finding inflammation around the heart following mild or asymptomatic cases in student athletes, we have a long road ahead of us. To face the tragedy that is this pandemic with the passion and resolve that is needed we must fight the inclination to make any part of this year a “new normal”.
Resources
Kevin Stankiewicz & Rattner (2020). Nursing homes create ‘perfect storm’ for Covid outbreaks as cases and deaths surge again. Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/30/covid-cases-and-deaths-in-nursing-homes-are-getting-worse-.html
Sengupta (2020). Even if you’re asymptomatic, COVID-19 can harm your heart, study shows – here’s what student athletes need to know. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/even-if-youre-asymptomatic-covid-19-can-harm-your-heart-study-shows-heres-what-student-athletes-need-to-know-149243