Thus far, the 21st century has not been a tragic one,
but it has not been an easy one either. The new millennium started
off with blissful hopes. In the late 1990s, segregation in South
Africa had ended, Northern Ireland was at peace, and the Cold War
was over. Such positivity was short-lived however. In 2001, the old
World Trade Center in New York City ceased to exist, and as a result
a new era had begun.
Fast forward seven years and another challenge would
begin. In 2008, the stock market crashed and the Great Recession as
historians now call it started creating more problems and worries.
People who had worked hard for years lost their homes and the
university dreams of their children were destroyed in an inglorious
blaze of glory. As time passed, things improved in just a few years,
and the economy was back on track. There would be another period of
hope for a handful of years, but that would all change with the
Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The world was thrown into a tailspin larger than
the events that preceded it. As concern skyrocketed by March of 2020,
people had little choice other than to stay at home to in order to
stop the virus from spreading. That one year proved to be beyond
challenging for the world with negative disruptions on a scale not
seen since World War II.
Life changed overnight. The general public were told
to stay home so they could protect themselves and those around them.
Certain parts of the world, such as the Pacific Northwest, had to deal
with even more negative events such as forest fires and ice storms.
However, as the pages the on the calendar continued to change, it
would appear that a brighter future is around the corner. It seems
the average person routinely hears that everything has to return to
normal as soon as possible, but there is a possible danger in using
the word “normal.” It is a word that can be interpreted in many
different ways. One only has to study a little anthropology or travel
beyond their backyard to discover that what different cultures consider
normal is not the same across the board.
To provide some clarity here is the Oxford dictionary’s
definition of normal: “typical, usual or ordinary; what you would
expect.” On the surface this may be what the general public desires,
but on the other hand, they likely desire something even more important.
Comfort. The definition of comfort once again according to Oxford
is: “the state of being physically relaxed and free from pain; the
state of having a pleasant life, with everything that you need.”
Comfort is something all cultures can understand.
Feeling comfortable is what COVID has taken from the people of the
world more than anything else. If a word like comfort is used instead
of normal that could have the potential to help the public create an
even better world than the one that preceded it before the virus.
The one thing to keep in mind is all cultures and
societies are more similar than not. In a society where so much
division is now common, finding something in common as simple as
wanting a comfortable environment is something everyone can agree
on. In the end, no matter how hard life gets, it will eventually
get better, which means that a comfortable future is about to
appear on the next horizon.
