The Duality That Is Our New Normal

Does anyone else feel like you boomerang between warrior (we will all collectively rise like Phoenix from the ashes) and worrier (will I ever leave my house again without it feeling like I’m in a scene from The Hunger Games)?

The boomerang between these two states is our new normal, the more we resist our current experience the more difficult it will be to move through it.

These boomerang-type feelings can fit into the stages of grief. I read an incredible Harvard Business Review article at the onset of this pandemic which really resonated with me, the title says it all “That Discomfort You Are Feeling Is Grief”. Upon reading this article I was able to process the different experiences I was having which allowed me the space to move through them over and over again in that beautiful non-linear way. We have all experienced loss of one kind or another: the death of a loved one, the end of a job, or our wallet on vacation. And now, this microscopic virus has caused a colossal loss and the world as we know it will never be the same.

I’ve been told by many close friends that I am one of the most resilient people they know. I am not sure how to take this (compliment?) in part because it’s a nod to the reality that my life hasn’t been easy and in many ways I’ve had no choice but to rise like the Phoenix that was born to do this. As I’ve come to learn in my own life, one of the biggest mistakes that we could make is to not take this opportunity to stand for something new rather than sit and suffer in our old ways of doing things. You get to choose, what will you stand for?

I stand for kindness
I stand for innovation
I stand for love

Until the next time we meet on the streets – this is the time, my friend, to be a warrior in the face of the worrier.

Sabrina Banadyga, Head of Marketing at Sympli