Letters to Life (60)

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain” – Dolly Parton

 

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Dear Life,

I once read that after 30 days of trying something new, it will become normal.

Today is day 49 of the Dutch quarantine.

Last Thursday, Life, you found me on a bench outside the local supermarket, waiting for my mother to return from a small errand. Sure, I could have gone in with her, but we’re only allowed into the store with a cart. And two carts for one bottle of milk seemed a bit too much. So I remained outside, in the sun, sitting on a bench more than the specified 1.5 metres away from the rest of the human world.

Meanwhile, a line of people started forming, all patiently waiting for a disinfected shopping cart to take into the supermarket. One girl was burdened with the task of cleaning the carts, one at a time, and handing them to the customers, one at a time. Even if it was taking a lot of time, nobody complained. People laughed. People talked. People were understanding.

I simply stared at the scene in front of me, Life, and felt sad. Despite people’s merriness in times like this, I couldn’t help but wonder what the world will look like post-corona. Maybe I am moving too fast in my thinking, but I know that nothing lasts forever, Life, and this too shall pass. Eventually.

Never one to like the ordinary, the first two weeks of quarantine I surprisingly found myself longing for “normal”. Now, with Quarantine Week 8 lurking around the corner, normal has changed. I’ve actually gotten used to the current state of affairs.

I hope that whatever you have in store for us, Life, us humans will carry it with pride like we do now. And that we’ll keep our merry spirits indefinitely.

Until the new normal will have, once again, been redefined.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are all in good health and spirits. Let’s all hope our current normal will quickly be followed by a better version ❤