Time in Crisis: Scrambling and Standing Still

The particular crisis that we find ourselves in now has shifted time in a way that makes it feel more amorphous — the decade that was March, the moment of April, the year of May. The future feels so uncertain that we’re simultaneously stuck in the present moment and desperately trying to escape it — scrambling to adapt to new realities and sitting on the sidelines as passive observers to momentous change.

When you can’t see what the future holds you are forced to be in the present moment, going through the motions while you wait to see what happens next. For those of us who are planners, this is incredibly destabilizing because planning for the future is what keeps us moving and gives us a sense of purpose, something to aim for.

We’re also more disconnected than we’ve ever been from jobs, colleagues, loved ones, friends, activities that bring us joy. Networks and interactions that used to connect us to each other are replaced with new ways of interacting and isolation in many instances.

At the same time, we’re all scrambling to take on different roles and adjust to new realities — maybe you’re a homeschool teacher in addition to (or instead of) your normal job, maybe you’re sharing space with loved ones who are sick or need a place to stay, maybe you’re working more than you ever have before, maybe you’re not…