When will we get back to normal from the virus of 2020? The news people asked the president three times today, “when can we expect to go back to our lives?” He, of course, had to give the same answer all three times, “we simply don’t know.”

I do know. I know what I hope. I hope we never go back. I don’t want to!

As a work-from-home mom, I made the hard decision to quit a job, which meant the world to me, to be more available for my family. It was scary. And I really didn’t know if it was going to help make a living or send us into financial ruin. But my kids needed me. Not to take them here and there, or to teach them all the how-tos of life, or to remember dental appointments. They just needed a sense of calm. A calm that I was not providing when my head was still at work. They needed someone when everything was moving fast, to be their pause. To be their prayer. To be their calm.

So, for me, I have been practicing for the virus for two years now. Practicing being present and calm. Practicing listening to my spirit and shutting out the world.

It has been amazing watching everyone around me stop and breathe, joining me in the realization that the systems in our lives are not as important as we had thought. School, with its overload of state-mandated busywork that doesn’t teach the child. Politics, with its lines in the sand, when in reality they are two sides of the same ship. The system of consumerism, where two identical stores are side by side and the public really doesn’t need either. And even the system of religion, where one subject, one decision, is crucial to the future of the church… later to find no one is allowed in church for possibly months. And yet the spirit continues to enlighten us and make us better people.

There is a show on the discovery channel called Unearthed. They take these archeological sites and historic ruins and use CGI to dig further into these places and reveal its hidden secrets. Imagine, if you will, the lifting up of malls, schools, churches, and municipal buildings. What is left underneath? Countless skeletons of humans long before us? Earth, nature, maybe even farmland? Layers of our past? But we are not our land and we are not our buildings. We are the people who not only make these systems but keep them going. We can and should take these systems apart regularly… for cleaning! We created them and have the power to change any system that no longer benefits us.

I’m not saying shut everything down and bulldoze our lives entirely. But today, reel in what matters. If what mattered last week, doesn’t matter as much today, it is possible it never did. Share on X

Our eyes have opened. School was so important, last week. The election was so important, last week. Our trips and purchases were so important, last week. Churches in the news deciding who can worship was so important, just last week.

So, for me, I do not want life as usual. I don’t really care when we can return to normal. I hope we never do. I hope we never forget what really matters. Being calm, being present, being human and listening to your heart whisper your job to you every morning. That’s what matters today when the world has stopped. That’s what matters now.

Melanie Winter

Melanie is the Director of Marketing and Content Writer for WinternetWeb Technologies.

Melanie writes content for clients to promote marketing and branding in her web development business. She also writes for a blog and local community history projects and publications. She earned a Bachelors from Virginia Tech in Communications, English, and Religion. Melanie also enjoys writing fiction, spending time with her two daughters, antiquing, gardening, and community volunteering.