Thoughts & Philosophy

24, June 2021 - by Jared Brandon-Flande

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.

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