There are many reasons why the COVID-19 pandemic was so tough, whether it be the loss of a family member or the struggles of actually having the virus. However, among that towering myriad of reasons lies the issue of disconnection. Nothing amounts to the pain of being disconnected—being disconnected from your family, disconnected from an activity, disconnected from nature, disconnected from your friends.
There lies an overwhelming amount of terror attributed to that loneliness, the ever-so chilling feeling that nobody would come to help, the solely nihilistic feeling that the world was unraveling, and we have no agency to stop it.
Yet, we did stop it. The world has not ended. We are still here. And in the aftermath of that disconnection, we have reforged connections for the better.
In 2020, there was the frightening feeling of having to wear a mask everywhere, which forced everyone into having to be ever-so cautious not to put themselves, as well as others at risk.
In 2024, we do not have to wear a mask everywhere, and while it is refreshing to see everyone’s faces once more, there awoke a newfound de-stigmatization of hygiene and disease control; no one even dares to look twice if you’re wearing a mask when sick.
In 2020, there was the loss of physical workspaces, like schools, where structured lives seemed to break down for the worse.
In 2024, the deconstruction of that rigidity has led to the fluidity of the now commonly used hybrid work model—the new enabling of parents to be able to spend time with their kids at home— and the newfound agency of the worker over the company.
In 2020, there was a distancing of relationships and a lost physicality of interactions, a primary way we connect with those around us.
In 2024, we have not only regained that physicality, we now have countless outlets of virtual connections, where fostering a relationship through great distances is evermore plausible.
In 2020, there was a feeling of endless hopelessness as the world as we knew it collapsed around us; however, now in 2024, there is a new endless hopefulness. We are endlessly hopeful to make social change, endlessly hopeful to combat climate change, endlessly hopeful for our futures. The pain of departure from each other in 2020 is nothing in comparison to the joy of meeting again.
