Post-Pandemic Blues.
Feeling a bit strange as the world opens up? Here's why and what to do about it.
As we work to adjust to the new, new norm — or decide what we want that to be — it’s leaving us all a bit unsettled, but why? And what can we do about it?
We’ve all been wanting to “get back to normal” or hopefully, to something better than normal for a while now. Yet, as things are opening up, I’m struck by how so many of us — including me — feel a bit unsettled.
This strange-to-describe vibe is similar to how I felt when I was finally able to go back to work after a traumatic brain injury, or when I moved back to Minneapolis after living in Spain for a year. Everything seemed “normal”, but I didn’t. I was attempting to relate to my old life, but it no longer fit. The experience had changed me.
The pandemic changed us — all of us.
It has also offered us a unique opportunity to pause, reflect, and redesign our lives. Allowing us to focus on the things that matter most, which means it's time to let go of the parts of us — the parts of society — that no longer are of service. It also means we have to figure out what we value, what we want our world to look like, and how we want to engage in it.
The hard part is, we’re being asked to change our routines, our norms, AGAIN. Change is hard, and no one knows exactly what life “should” look like after a pandemic. Especially, when we’ve been acutely reminded that the future is unknown and the unknown can be scary.
If you’re feeling similar, you may find it helpful to be reminded that a lot happened in the last year and you’re probably not over it — none of us are. You and me, and all of society, are just starting to collectively grieve —the people we lost, the experiences we missed, the helplessness that so many of us felt. Meanwhile, many countries, like India, are still in the midst of it all.
Yet, the necessity of change isn’t the only reason we may be feeling unsettled.
We may also be languishing. “Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield. And it might be the dominant emotion of 2021.”
Or, perhaps all of the experiences you endured in the last year shook you up. You might be reckoning with a disconnect between what you do day-to-day, where you live, how you spend your time and energy, and what you value.
A great way to better understand what you need is to tap into your body intelligence. Try to notice the emotions in your body. They tell you about your met or unmet needs. So often we spend an enormous amount of time thinking about what we’re feeling instead of actually feeling them, which can lead to a lot of anxiety.
Actually feeling our emotions helps us process them and helps to create a distance between who we are (we are not our emotions) and the momentary emotions we’re feeling. For instance, instead of saying I am tired or out of sorts, maybe you notice that your shoulders are tight, that you’re clenching your jaw, that your stomach is knotted.
Try using a mindfulness meditation to practice keying into your body intelligence.
Or, it could be that your social skills are a bit rusty. You really haven’t been face-to-face with anyone one expect your immediate family in months and you’ve forgotten how much energy it takes to really be present with someone, how lovely it feels to connect with others, and how perhaps how much you’ve missed it over the past year and a half.
We all need people to help us give meaning to our lives and cope with the highs and lows of life. Make an effort to reach out to friends and family you haven’t heard from in a while. Tell them that you miss them and you’d love to catch up. Then do it.
Or maybe you're feeling out of sorts because you weren't doing so well before the pandemic and you've had to be so "on" in the last year -- caring for kids, parents, neighbors, working -- that you haven't had a moment to reflect, until now.
Less than 20% of the US population was considered to be “thriving” before the pandemic. We were overworked, burn-out, stressed out and the pandemic amplified it all. We needed a change then.
The pandemic forced us to face a lot of truths about ourselves, our lives, and our society. It's leaving us feeling a bit unsteady as we move into the post-pandemic world because change is hard and there are so many unknowns.
Yet, research shows that creating daily healthy habits can help you foster your resilience, so you can make decisions about your future with greater ease, and learn how to thrive in both your personal and professional life, no matter what's thrown your way.
Taking this free 2-minute self-assessment can help you recognize your current resilience superpowers and help you identify others that may be more helpful.
It might also be the right time to work with a wellness coach (or maybe even a therapist) to help guide you through that process. You’ll learn how to create a new wellness vision, how to create goals you’ll actually stick with, and get the benefit of having more energy, the ability to bounce back from stressors with greater ease, and space and time to prioritize your wellness.