Phase 2 of Covid-19 lockdown begins in May for Italy
Catherine
As Italy is now preparing to enter phase 2, a softer lockdown in May, the atmosphere is filled with both relief and trepidation. Over the next few weeks, businesses will reopen in staggered periods and people will be allowed outside for limited movement beyond necessities. However, this by no means indicates life will return as we once knew it or that a stricter lockdown may not occur again if another wave of Covid-19 surfaces.
Being the first European country hit so hard, the world watched Italy suffer and tried to anticipate and learn what was in store for their area. Whether or not you believed Covid-19 was a health risk to you or if a lockdown was necessary, it was coming your way to negatively affect your life. There was no escape.
One thing for sure, is that no matter where you are located, life has changed and loss has occurred for all. Life was not frozen in time during this lockdown enabling it to be resumed status quo because too much has occurred that won’t allow it. In fact, there is no future certainty in many things we had been accustomed to feeling secure in since our new norm is still evolving.
One of the common things we have all experienced due to the lockdown is the loss of time. Time we couldn’t spend with family and friends. Time our freedom of movement was restricted. Time we will never get back.
For some, the loss encountered has been much greater. For those living alone, we have experienced true isolation. For those out of work, we have lost income. For those who lost a loved one, we have had to grieve alone without family and friends near and not be able to even say goodbye at a funeral. And the list goes on and on because we don’t even know the full repercussions yet. What we do know is that we are forever changed in ways that we didn’t want and never expected.
Over the next year and maybe longer, we will be faced with more change and challenges, so now is the time to think about the change we do want. The change we do have control over.
We are all starting over in some respects as we slowly start to resume our prior activities with limitations. While the coronavirus has taken away so much from us and made life more difficult in this moment and the foreseeable future, it has not defeated us. It has not taken away our dreams, who we are and want to be.
What the coronavirus has positively done for us is to inspire us to think out of the box and be even more creative to make money. It has made us appreciate the smaller things in life that we’ve always taken for granted. It has shifted priorities, rekindled friendships or allowed us to let go of some relationships that just didn’t work. Maybe it has lessened unreal expectations and made us more grateful for what we do have. It will touch us in many more constructive ways that may be disguised at the moment, but it will be there.
