Hey Party People,
As of March 1st, maaaaany, if not most, of Alberta’s COVID 19 restrictions are being scaled back. Some of us are elated about this change and some feel rather uneasy or hesitant. And I don’t blame individuals for feeling skeptical, we’ve been told over and over that COVID is behind us, we can return to “normal,” only to get hit with another wave, and returned restrictions.
I will say I have been quite proud of Alberta for going against the grain at least somewhat during this pandemic. Did we get it right every time? Absolutely not, but if we didn’t try something different, there would be no comparison. Right? We can dare to be different and see failure, or we can see an opportunity to learn.
And that’s what I want to bring up today – the opportunity to learn. As things open up, for what feels like real this time, I can feel EVERYone rushing back to the things they used to do - A.K.A over scheduling their lives…
I think as a collective we feel like we need to make up for lost time, but was all this time during COVID truly lost? Or was there an opportunity to slow down and take stock of our lives? What parts did you TRULY miss during the pandemic, and which parts did you think, “huh I definitely don’t miss that!” Now that we have our freedom back what things, activities and people are you bringing back into your life? What or who gets a spot back in your life because COVID is no longer an excuse?
The same goes for kids. I know the pandemic was especially hard on them with little to no support or outlets for them to process or understand what they were experiencing. (and this is not a knock on parents!) Check out CBC’s 5 part series on Kids in Crisis to learn about the impact of the pandemic on youth’s mental health. So are we just going to throw kids back into after-school activities, piano lessons, and sports to fill the void and keep them busy or are we going to support them in what they went through, and ask them what they want to do next?
Earlier on in the pandemic, some of us took a brief moment to consider rushing back to normal, at a time when we thought the pandemic might only last a month (Oh we were so naïve). We’re in the reality of this newfound freedom again and I ask to remind you all that in a rush to go back to normal, to take a minute and think about what parts you actually want to go back to. I already see people filling their schedules to the brim and hear that summer programs are already at full capacity.
The slow down was a gift from COVID, let’s not lose that lesson. Before jumping back into everything we did before, take a minute and ask a few questions of yourself, your partner, or your kids.
Do you want to go back to this again?
Do you still enjoy it?
Why were you doing it in the first place? Is that still true today?
Do you want to do something different?
Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Take a MINUTE and consider the choices you make as you rebuild and recreate this, dare I say, post-covid reality.
I’m going to leave you with a jam from a local artist I got to see live this past weekend at a Black History Month event.
Check him out, give him a follow on the socials or streaming platforms and support a local artist!
With gratitude,
-S
P.S. I am now hosting Book Clubs!! The focus is to talk alllll about Fulfillment based on my book Choosing Fulfillment Is Scary AF. Sign up for an upcoming date here! The conversations bring ME all of the fulfillment and I would love to have you there!
