I just want to go back to normal.

A sentence like that or similar is something I hear rather frequently lately. It even crossed my own mind a few times and it is a rather tempting thought.

Getting back to a world without contact restrictions, no more masks, parties, travel a (somewhat) well running economy, schools and kindergarten …

There is a lot that we rightfully miss right now and it is okay to want that back, to miss it. Liberties and quality of life are things we have to regain once the crisis is over.

But just wishing things would be as they were half a year ago do not help us now. It is not inspiring action. What we need right now is improvements to the current situation and an outlook of how we want the future to be.

Do we really want to go back to how thing were?

Crowded places, lack of personal space, racism and climate change being ignored again, politicians ignoring science?

Normal half a year ago was not all good. Going back, will not fix anything. Right now is the time to move forward, not to stare backwards in a romanticized way.

This is not only true for the great scheme of things but on a personal level as well.

Maybe you want to push your employer to allow for more home office opportunities (if it works well for you), maybe now is the time to quit hobbies you did not really enjoy and only not notice how much of a relief it is that they aren’t possible.

Or the opposite, you only realisiere now how much you are missing a particular thing and want to invest more into it.

There is a lot for us to think about and act on these days. Let’s not get hold back by the old normal.