When Late Night Thoughts are Bourne

WHEN LATE NIGHT THOUGHTS ARE BOURNE with Freddie Bourne

COVID RECOVERY WILL TAKE TIME

We all need to realize that just because the pandemic is receding, change isn’t going to happen overnight. But for some reason, we seem to either forget or are simply avoiding the fact that we were living with more uncertainty than usual for over 400 days. Yet, the human experience is conditioned to cry, emote, and accept on a two-week timeline and get back to business.

Roughly 34 million cases with 600,000 deaths and a struggling economy not to mention the toll that the pandemic has taken on our mental health - and the solution is to just resume the daily grind like nothing happened.

Reality check: this is a new normal. We cannot turn back to the "good ol’ days" and simply put a band-aid on it.

When talk shows were closed down in New York City, hosts and production staff turned to using iPhones, treehouses, and storage closets to keep us entertained. While making light of the situation, they never once avoided the fact that they were sharing this confusing and often frightening COVID experience with us.

They were real.

What baffles me the most throughout this is how, even with those of us that survived this historical yet distressing moment, we still complain about the most mundane happenings as if the world owes us something.

I was employed full-time as a teacher with a good salary, benefits, and paid summers off, while also making money from Livestream performances and small gigs with a roof over my head and a family that loves me. But none of that mattered when I allowed myself to get so upset by the dumbest first-world problems. Once I stopped being selfish, I realized something: You’re alive!

We made it through a time of absolute insane uncertainty. But you still have the opportunity to go after those dreams of yours. You can still plan out a future. Yet, when your favorite restaurant has an hour wait due to low staff, everyone must hear about this absolute travesty.

Even if things seem bleak, there has to be something that is giving you light. Oh, you said "no" to that statement? Think harder.

I am not saying we shouldn’t put on a brave face. We should do everything in our power to be strong and encourage each other and ourselves. But we also should practice kindness, patience, sincerity, and transparency.

We do need to keep going; we cannot dwell on it forever. But the fact that we are doing a half-ass acting exercise, avoiding the historical impact of what occurred, is quite inhumane. We all go through loss differently; this shouldn’t be any different.