I keep hearing people talking about “the new normal,” “when this is all over,” and “when things get back to normal.” Each of those phrases can have totally different meanings to different people, but one thing they have in common is that they’re all are future focused.
I get it. People are uncomfortable. They’re scared. They’re displaced. They’re no longer distracted. They’re forced to be still with their thoughts. They’re mandated to be alone with themselves. And they’re ready for “this” to be all over.
And when people feel out of control or trapped in the unknown, they reach for the familiar – or in the case of Covid-19 toilet paper 
– anything to make themselves feel safe again.
But what if rather than reaching for things to bring them comfort, people started searching for whats in the NOW? Like noticing there’s time to work on that passion project they’ve been putting off for the last eight years because work had overtaken their lives? Or those Sunday family dinners that kept getting postponed till “next week” because the calendar had been overbooked? Or meeting that “new neighbor” who moved in next door…last year? Or taking your kids to check on an elderly neighbor, and during that conversation they get to see another elderly neighbor riding her bike for the first time in 15 years? (I actually saw that happen from my window the other day!)
As people start searching for the whats in their “new normal,” their vision becomes clearer because it’s no longer clouded by the fog of survival. They can see more vividly their purposes, hopes, dreams, community, and humanity. Their days become more full and fulfilling because there’s less they HAVE to do. They’re more connected not only to the people around them but to the person in their mirror as well And then they’ll realize that the NOW has equipped them with everything they need to know about what’s next…aka “the new NOW.”