We have had a rough 18 months with the covid situation.  Lengthy and ever-changing health directives, governmental mixed messages, job insecurity, social isolation, family break-ups, financial hardships, increased mental health issues, inconsistent health care and support have taken a toll on all of us.  Yes, we are resilient.  Yes, we are strong.  Yes, we will find our way.  And so begins life as we emerge from the Covid Cocoon.

A few things were our “normal” for a very long time.  It will take a period of adjustment to feel comfortable once more in our homes, workplaces and communities. Some will adjust faster than others, mainly because of their confidence in the vaccines. Others will need a bit more coaxing to relax their vigilance.  For over a year, we’ve practised:  proper hand washing and hand hygiene; social distancing or avoidance if infection is suspected; staying in our “bubble” with no public gatherings; wearing masks and shields in all public places; relying on the internet to connect us with work, worship, health care, education and family events.  Now, we are opening up to the new way of doing things in a post-pandemic world. Or at least we are taking baby steps forward in this endeavour.

As a nurse, I am thrilled that folks have learned the importance of hand hygiene!  This is one of the gifts from the Covid Cocoon lockdown that I’m hopeful will remain firmly entrenched in everyone’s behaviour.  With proper hand hygiene, we have an opportunity to halt many viral and bacterial nasties. It’s not just colds and flu that we can limit.  Cross-contamination from all sorts of infections in hospitals, schools, workplaces and care centers, food poisoning from improperly handled and prepared food, injury or post-operative wound issues, and many other situations are lessened if everyone involved uses proper hand-washing and sanitizing technique.  Soap and water are super-heroes in my opinion!

For some, this is an exciting time as we have an opportunity to renew our family ties, community supports, sports and all sorts of social interactions.  As humans, we are naturally social beings, so the Covid Cocoon has kept us in a most unnatural state.  How precious it is to finally have a sit-down dinner at a home or in restaurants sans masks with friends and family.  So much to catch up on!  Even going to the grocery store or hardware store is exciting as we encounter facial expressions again; how wonderful to experience smiles and laughter without being blocked by the masks and shields.  If it is true that 90% of human communication is through non-verbal means, then those masks blocked a lot of our connection with others. But now, we can begin reconnecting more completely again.

Yet some folks are afraid of being out in the world.  The Covid Cocoon created a safe haven from the possibility of contracting the virus. And for some, it validated their underlying fears of people and places as being inherently dangerous.  Trust, safety and security are suspect;  fear, insecurity and mistrust rule.  With the media constantly beating the fear factor into its viewers for months on end, it was hard to think of any other alternative.

Yet living an isolated life, away from others, has had its own drawbacks.  This has been evident with the level of mental health deterioration, increased substance abuse, financial and business bankruptcies, and family breakdowns seen throughout the pandemic. And we are still seeing the fallout from these events as deaths from delayed medical diagnosis and treatments, regressed physical and mental abilities due to delayed rehab therapies, unresolved grief to deaths of family and friends during covid, higher unemployment and family stresses continue to mount. As we open up the world again, it is time to address these issues and find solutions that work for everyone. We must find a way to move forward and find our comfort so we can participate in the world again.  But how?

Trust reflects a level of faith that we are complete and safe in and of ourselves.  It is within us and is under our control.  When the world is constantly changing, we need to go within to find that place of peace and stillness. Chaos is how the universe works – get caught up in it at the expense of your personal peace.  We have a poster here at the Centre which reads, “Live by what you trust, not by what you fear.”  The covid situation has emphasized Fear, so to counterbalance this, we must use Trust.  Trust yourself and your intuition first. Base your findings and actions on real information, not jargon or “interpretation” from unreliable sources. It is within your right to question things that are confusing or not sitting right with you. Use your common sense because it is a gift that many people have ignored or extinguished.

Once you know what you trust, open up your world at a pace that makes sense and feels right for you. Remember that not everyone is going to respond to you as you think they should, as we are all finding our own way out of this Covid Cocoon. Respecting each other and each other’s comfort level will go a lot farther in keeping our world safe and secure than using a demanding, threatening or demeaning approach.  We went into this cocoon one way – we will come out of it another way.  Like the caterpillar who thought its world had ended, when it came out of the cocoon as a butterfly, it was amazed! Such can be our transformation, too.