Sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on in the world, particularly when you're "the little guy."

Without a doubt, we are living in what can truly be called "Unprecedented Times." Also without much of a doubt, what we're currently in the middle of will have significant ramifications for all of Humanity, for many years to come — if not permanently.

It has only been a little over a year since Covid-19 became "a thing" in our lives and we have already massively changed how we approach a bunch of different things.

What will we do, when the gates open?

Spare Time Alone — "Zoning Out" or "Awakening Consciousness?"

So we have millions billions of people whose daily lives have been disrupted. Specifically, they have been substantially disrupted from all the daily distractions so many people previously used to "self-narcoticize" themselves away from having to sit with even the most basic of their own truths and thoughts.

One of the things I often lament is that the "Government/Corprate Machine" tries to distract us from thinking for ourselves by pushing people towards being caught in an eternal stream of busy-ness; so busy, in fact, that we have no time left over to sit down and consider our own inner meaning. What truly matters to us.

Caught on the metaphorical "hamster wheel," so to speak.

Due to an assortment of restrictions, lockdowns, work-at-home programs, furloughs and what have you, a lot of people have definitely had more time available to just sit and think about things. But did they choose to do so?

Desert sage in bloom

Quarantine = "Control" or "Freedom?"

Many ostensibly "thinking" individuals have been busy screaming about all the "rights and freedoms" we have allegedly "lost" to current imposed restrictions.

Perhaps a worthy line of reasoning? Or is this perhaps just people caught on a different kind of myopic hamster wheel — one in which governments and corporations exist for the sole purpose of abusing their "subjects."

There are many ways of "not being able to see the forest for the trees." There are also several ways to perceive what a given situation actually is.

We may have been CONTROLLED (aka "herded") into our homes, but now we have the FREEDOM to sit alone with our thoughts and evaluate what actually MATTERS, absent many of the usual distractions. But are we choosing to DO so? Or are we so busy bellyaching about what we can't do that we have lost sight of what we can do?

Mt. Shasta, above the tree line, July

The Ambiguity of Information

Who's telling the truth? I don't actually know, and I'm ambivalent about what "truth" is, in the first place.

I'm more interested in "Where do I find the FACTS," so I can discern the truth for myself.

In the world of Covid, we also have millions of new posters and broadcasters adding "noise" to the information stream. And most of it is NOISE, rather than SIGNAL.

More than ever, there's an invitation in front of us to Think For Ourselves. There's an invitation to step outside the pablum echo chambers we are spoon fed, face our cognitive biases and look at all sides to determine for ourselves what is actual SIGNAL and what is just NOISE.

Sometimes the best "signals" come from sources we're biased against! And you don't tend to *learn: very much from just hanging out with people who think, do and say the same thing as you...

We SHOULD "Be Bothered!"

There are certainly those who will argue that "people can't be bothered" to start thinking for themselves, and instead will see this purely as an opportunity to zone out with endless re-runs of The Simpsons and binge-watching newly created apocalyptic drama series on Netflix.

I submit that we should use our alone time wisely, to think about existence, and our part in it!

I submit that an appropriate exercise might be to sit down and make a list of "All The Things I Can't Do and Don't Have At The Moment" and then sort that list into two segments:

1. Things I authentically miss and want back

2. Things I did simply out of habit because either "everyone was doing them" or "I now recognize I was stuck on autopilot."

Odds are there are quite a few things in List Number Two.

This is your invitation to identify them, and to NOT resume doing/having them, when restrictions are loosened.

We don't need to "go back to normal," we need to create "A NEW Normal!"

This is just one way to change your perception of your place within the Covid-19 Pan/Plan/Scam-demic from "being a helpless VICTIM of it," to "using it as an opportunity for CHANGE!"

Here are some things I do not plan to change:

Grocery shopping once, maybe twice a week. There's no need to head into town every day, every time we're "out" of something. Our fuel bills for 2020 for our vehicles amounted to about 30% of what they were in 2019.

The joy of cooking, and trying out completely new and exotic dishes. Even when we can, I doubt we'll eat out more than maybe once a month. It used to be 1-2 times a week. Cooking is fun, and the home made food is actually better!

Along those lines, homegrown food really does taste better... and it's better for you. Up until 2020, we were mostly "hobbyist" gardeners, but we plan to continue expanding our food garden, even if we don't "have to."

Way fewer subscriptions to "stuff." Here's an odd thing: Before Covid, we actually had a lot more "convenience" items dumped in the door (on via email) every week than we do now... the extra time at home has really helped us see how much of that stuff barely got used, yet cost a couple of hundred dollars a month.

The end of "random shopping." Being at home makes you realize how much stuff we already have, and we sure as heck don't need any more.

Think it through, before you act! A lot of things you think of as "needs" aren't actually NEEDS, at all!

Undoubtedly, this experience will have been different for everyone. And I'm not saying that my way is THE way... just inviting people to take a long hard look at what kind of "normal" they really want to return to... or is it an opportunity to create a NEW "normal?"

Thanks for reading!

How about YOU? Has this past year helped you re-think your priorities? Do you believe a NEW normal is possible, rather than a "return to normal?" Are there things you'll definitely NOT go back to doing/using, even if it is OK? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

---

Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!

Proud member of the Lifestyle Lounge Community on Hive!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!)
Created at 20210305 23:05 PST
0201/1444