Sleep Walking

Summary

The article reflects on the lingering impact of 2020's events, questioning whether we have truly moved past the collective "nightmare" and into a state of wakefulness.

Abstract

The piece, titled "Sleep Walking," delves into the ongoing processing of the tumultuous events of 2020, suggesting that many, including the author, may still be navigating the aftermath. Despite personal achievements post-2020, the author admits to a slow emergence from the fear and uncertainty of that time, indicating a struggle with reintegration into pre-pandemic life. The article draws a parallel between the gradual recovery from the pandemic's effects and the process of waking from a dream, where discerning reality from fantasy takes time. It acknowledges the challenges of balancing the "unknown" with the return to normalcy and proposes a true vacation as a potential means to fully awaken from the past year's burdens.

Opinions

The author believes that the impact of 2020 is still being felt and processed by many individuals.
There is a personal acknowledgment of significant life improvements since the peak of the pandemic, yet a sense of not fully awakening from the traumatic experience remains.
The process of recovery is likened to waking from a dream, with a mix of confusion and gradual clarity.
The author expresses a desire for a clear distinction between

Did we ever wake up from 2020?

Did we ever get To truly wake up from the Nightmare? Dazed, confused.

An Instagram post this morning caught my eye and got me thinking. It said:

2022 is only six months away and we’re all still trying to process what happened in 2020.

This couldn’t be more true for me, and I suspect for many of us.

While I have kicked-ass in so many areas of my life in the last year-ish, that is after I got over zoom happy-hours and replaced Netflix binging and wine drinking with writing and school, I am not sure that I’ve fully woken up from the nightmare of 2020.

And why would I have?

It’s been a very gradual coming out of the darkness, replacing fear with a little more freedom, uncertainty with just a little more trust, and languishing with just a little more flourishing.

When we dream, we eventually wake up, and while we may feel dazed and confused for a bit, teetering between dream and reality, we eventually wake up and can clearly discern between real and fantasy. We know who we are, we recognize where we are, and we feel steady on our feet.

But here, we haven’t quite been jolted out of our sleep as we continue to juggle so much unknown on unchartered grounds, and yet, we are returning to our pre-pandemic lives; no wonder so many of us are struggling with reintegrating.

I wish I knew the answer, the magic formula, to really wake up from this nightmare so that I can leap back into 2021 with more bounce in my step and no longer be weighed down by the year that came before it.

Perhaps a true vacation is in order to separate old from new?! (It’s coming!) What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

Galit Birk, PhD is a therapist-in-training, a parent coach, a life coach, and a forever student of life. She is a writer, an editor, and a poet. She is a mother of two, a former runner, and a want-to-be yogi. She is a deep-feeler who lives life with passion and transparency. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

POETRY / HAIKU

Sleep Walking

Did we ever wake up from 2020?