By Noor Abdulaziz
KUWAIT: Three years have gone by since a global pandemic hampered and altered the lives of millions worldwide. It is safe to say that most of us can vouch for the fact that our lives have never been the same since. Whether it’s by being introduced to newer, better versions or having regressed back to the worst forms of ourselves, COVID has left a permanent mark on the trajectory of our lives. However, now living in a post-apocalyptic world, people have taken it within themselves to find the road to recovery.
When asked how they’re finding life after a global pandemic, 24-year-old Farah said life after COVID has become entirely fast-paced. "I have a short attention span now! I feel like I’m not as patient as I used to be. I became so used to everything moving fast and obtaining new pieces of information through news outlets and the media every hour,” she said. Adolescents have said due to quickly changing events, it is hard for them to rest, as it makes them feel unproductive. "Waves of guilt would hit me if I stayed inside the house all day without doing something productive,” Farah states.
'forgot how to rest' "Doing 10 things at a time is the new normal for me. Even whilst watching a movie, I feel I must keep moving around. It’s hard for me to stay put in one place for hours without getting up to do something else. I think this has to do with the fact that during what was supposed to be a time where everything was expected to stop, everyone expected us to keep going. I studied for quizzes, gave 30-minute presentations for professors, and had to work from home to run my business,” Farah said. "Also, due to the lack of physical communication, I struggled hard with feelings connected to the real world, so now I meet up for a coffee with loved ones every chance I get.
Not to mention how your emotional well-being is also being compromised. During COVID, face-to-face conversations were out of the equation, and I was forced to communicate with friends all whilst finishing my tasks online at the same time on different tabs. So, my brain is used to being in five different places at once. I forgot how to rest” she added. "The idea of staying at home makes me crawl out of my skin now. I think it’s because everything was forced to be done at home, whether it’d be attending classes, buying gym equipment to set up at home, or watching movies in your living room that were meant to be experienced at a movie theater.
We were forced to experience a multitude of different activities all in one closed space, and I’m still recovering from that three years later,” Maryam, a 21-year-old college student, said. "I love my family to death, but you will never find me at home if I’m not needed there now. We’ve bonded enough!” she quipped. It’s no surprise that people are still finding ways to process what was an unusual experience, as no one was spared from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced people to shift and adapt to a different kind of ‘normal’.