COVID-19 & 9/11: Re-shaping our perceptions of normal
For those of us old enough to remember the events that lead up to and ensued on 9/11, the impact on our day to day life and travel in particular would have seemed ludicrous prior to the tragedy.
I, like many, have such fond memories of air travel with my parents walking me to the gate and staying there until they were able to wave goodbye as my plane started to exit. I remember bringing all my haircare products and sunscreen, regardless of size, shoved securely in my bag. I remember bringing my soda or water (probably was soda) and not having to needless dump it or not bring it at all with me to the airport. I remember going through security was EASY! Not the taking off shoes, or belts or unpacking your carry on to separate your laptop or phones or or or….. I remember people being able to leave bags around only fearing they’d be stolen, not that someone would suspect it had a bomb in it. I remember the only true fear I had with flying (and continue to do so to some degree) was CRASHING into the ocean or a mountain top. (Not sure why those two…but those were my fears)… Now, we as humans and specifically as Americans fear domestic and international terrorism, having the very real, tragic, heartbreaking, unbelievable images of those planes purposely flying into the two trade center buildings, into the Pentagon, and the very courageous passengers who risked their lives ultimately to prevent the 4th plane from hitting another planned governmental target.
That all would have been so hard to envision prior to 9/11….and now it IS our NORMAL. We all can no longer be naive enough to not understand that evil is both real, and can take on many forms, attempting to destroy all who’s path it intersects.
We arrive at the airports hours and hours and hours in advance to make sure we are preparing for whatever line is in security. We purposely leave things behind if we can, so we don't have to check in a bag and pay what is in essence another airfare to bring large quantities of hair care products or sunscreen. We kiss our loved ones goodbye as quickly as possible to avoid the honking of inpatient passengers also doing the same to their loved ones curb side. We squeeze into ridiculously cramped planes, hoping that some terrorists who hate either our government or us or both haven’t figured out another way to become a martyr, another way to destroy the lives of so many…..
And this is our new normal. This is the price we now pay to continue to travel in our world.
Prior to 9/11…. we could not have conceived that this would seem to be commonplace…and yet it is.
Now, we are in this pandemic. With the exception of a few 100+ year olds in our world. none of us have seen a virus like this before, impacting every aspect of our lives. Health. Spiritual. Financial. Social. EVERYTHING! As much as I talk with clients, family and friends, about the desire for eventing to return to “normal”…will it? How can it? How can we go back to the days of going to crowded restaurants primarily being annoyed by the wait time or the volume of the customers voices? How will we return to the days of going to concerts and worrying about where our seats are or how much the tickets have gone up in price since the “good ole days” (like when I would go as a teen/young adult and thought $25 was a lot to pay for a ticket!) ? Social gatherings- when will we return to wondering who will show up, instead of were they social distancing or using necessary precautions to minimize their risk of exposure?
As much as I want to say to others, and to myself, relax…wait it out…it’ll all be ok…. I feel like that is both disingenuous and oversimplified. May be we aren't meant to return to “normal”? May be, just like the impact of 9/11 regulations for air travel (specifically), a greater good that will perhaps protect more people will come from this pandemic. May be we can more specifically identify what is truly important to us, and let go of those things, those people, those worries that no longer serve us. May be we will truly appreciate our family members, our friends, the loves of our life having felt the impact of having their lives and our connection in jeopardy. May be we will slow down more, and appreciate being able to go the the park, to catch up with a friend over tea/coffee, to bring that “thing” to a dear friend who is in need rather than feeling helpless as we cannot interact with people outside our homes right now. May be we will become more resilient, more caring, more intentional in our living?
There is a saying that I love that goes like this…. “it isn’t what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Epictetus.
How will you respond? This is your chance, will you let this define you and feel defeated, or rise about it and shine?
