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What if this is the new normal?

August 2020

I’m lucky to live very close to a vast expanse of common land where I’ve been able to take long, leisurely walks most days during the coronavirus pandemic. I’m actually quite ashamed to admit that I never made better use of such an amenity before the lockdown started, but I’d like to think that I’ll make better use of it in future.

I’m choosing my words quite carefully here. I was tempted to write “when things are back to normal” at the end of that first paragraph. But while we’re all waiting to see what the new normal will be, there’s a danger that we’ll miss the opportunities in front of us right now. There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has changed many aspects of our everyday lives, and maybe some things will have been changed for ever. But what if this is the new normal? Some of the paths on my walks across the common are quite narrow, and already I find myself instinctively checking that no-one is coming towards me on stretches where there wouldn’t be room for us to pass at least two metres apart. I wonder how long it will be until I don’t think like that any more, or if that will become part of my new normal.

So maybe the time has come to embrace the present rather than waiting for things to get back to normal.

Watch this space for some Covid-19 support opportunities!