Today marks the start of our combined efforts to show how all we’ve been through in the past two years since coronavirus became part of our lives will continue to affect the way we do things.
We felt it was necessary to acknowledge the two-year anniversary of this journey, but we didn’t want to spend time rehashing two years’ worth of ups and downs.
Let’s face it, we all know what happened.
A better approach seemed to be to look forward, to gauge how our struggles and triumphs would have lasting effects on us.
We put together teams of reporters from the newspapers in our southeastern Pennsylvania group to tackle this project.
Reporter Evan Brandt kicks it off today, setting the stage for a series of stories over the next several weeks that will look at how schools, health care, politics, policing, entertainment, religion, nonprofits and business have adapted.
Changes in some areas were in the pipeline when the pandemic hit, so rolling them out came a little more easily for some.
Other changes were forced into reality, born from an unmet need in the community or a desire to keep one’s livelihood afloat.
We marveled at people and businesses that pivoted, taking what they knew and turning it into a new venture.
It’s been well documented the role necessity plays in invention.
And we all learned to adapt, from the workplace to home.
We’ve relied on technology to do our jobs and keep in touch with family and friends when doing so face to face wasn’t so safe.
We’ve rolled with the pandemic and continue to adapt as we find our footing between the virus’ ability to mutate and living our lives.
The past two years have made me a little more reflective, a little more likely to pause and look up to see what’s around.
Breaking my head-down, get-it-done approach hasn’t been easy.
I’ve been trying to bring the work-life seesaw closer to balancing. For too many years that seesaw has leaned too frequently in the wrong direction.
And I’ve become better at knowing what I can control and not feeling like I’ve surrendered to the things I can’t control.
I’m still adapting, but then aren’t we all?
