Many years ago I used to take two and half sugars in my tea. Actually most of the adults in my household did the same. Not two sugars, nor three, but two and a half.
Fast forward a few years when I became a student — money became tight, luxuries had to be sacrificed — one (or two and half) was the sugar. I can recall the bland taste of my morning tipple without the richness of the sweetener, and thinking that tea would never be the same again. It didn't. It became better. The idea of going back to any amount of sugar — even half a spoonful — would, for me, make the drink disgusting and unpalatable. So using the tea — or the sugar — as an analogy — what things have changed for you since Covid-19?
Or if I put it another way, what things were important to you pre Covid-19, but no longer are?
Throughout my counselling career I have worked with clients face to face in a counselling room. That for me has been the norm but that is no longer possible, certainly not for the time being and even when F2F (modern text speak) resumes, it will possibly take on a different form. Will masks need to be worn before we commence our session? Will our chairs need to be moved to the statutory two metres social distancing measure? Will I have to make hand sanitisers available before we begin? The beginning of the end of F2F? I don't think so, but in the meantime people are still suffering from anxiety and stress and abuse and panic attacks. As I move my work to online I am finding that this is becoming the new norm, the new way of doing things. Not a substitute for F2F and certainly not second best — different, for sure, but just as beneficial.
What I particularly like is that I am no longer confined by geographically boundaries — who would have imagined that that would have been a possibility a few months ago?
Things change, sometimes for the better, it's just a matter of getting used to them — even tea without sugar.
