elfwreck:

millennial-review:

THIS THIS THIS.

[Tweet by bo @chelicerage:
the way that so many people have become incapacitated by immeasurable grief and depression and pain over the past year and it has been watered down to “burnout and how to avoid it so you can do better work!” makes me want to start smashing things]

We’re going to see this A LOT as people get vaccinated, as businesses start opening up. “Sure, last year was hard, but it’s over. We all got a long rest and now it’s time to bounce back and pull together and get stuff done!”

…no.

We did not have a “rest.”

We had a global trauma.

Which is NOT OVER.

Don’t expect yourself or anyone else to be unchanged. Don’t expect “back to normal.” (In case you forgot: “normal” before was hellish and we all wanted it to change. We don’t want to go back, but even if we did, that normal is gone.)

Be kind to people who seem lost, who can’t finish projects, who keep forgetting to call back, who panic over deadlines, who talk endlessly about trivial worries, who can’t focus, who are either louder or quieter than they used to be.

We are all walking wounded.

You may need to pressure people – to insist, “I really need this done today,” to demand payment or a refund or another copy of whatever. You may need to tell people to do their job, pay their bill, get out of your driveway, or whatever.

But you don’t need to be cruel about it. You don’t need to insist that the person in front of you “snap out of it” or that, since you didn’t cause their problems, they should pretend to be “okay.”

None of us is “okay.” And if we all keep that in mind, our recovery will be quicker and we’ll build stronger communities.