What ails us all — post Covid — has a name: Languishing

We are not there yet — at the end — but all of us have experienced the same trauma of illness and the loss of loved ones, disrupted education, derailed careers, etc., for over the past 18 months or so. None of us went untouched. How will we recover? Post Covid challenges will linger worldwide.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html

Remembered this from a few months ago— seems the essence of “languishing”, appropriate for now.

I grew up in the era when polio put parents in a state of fear and kids off beaches and out of movie theatres. Mass communication was via radio and broadcast television. The rumor mill was our Twitter. Word of mouth told the tragic story within neighborhoods— many stricken families kept silent. I do not recall school closings — polio seemed to strike only over the summer months.

Back in the day, “languishing” was not in anyone’s vocabulary, post WW2. 

Dr. Salk’s vaccine discovery in the mid-‘50s changed our lives.

I was most depressed around April/May of last year. Every activity was cancelled and there were no plans for  adding events or activities. I recall a Sunday morning around 10:30 a.m. I drove to Bank of America and there was neither car nor pedestrian on the avenue. This was the time when Sundays would have had 20 people in Maple Leaf, Able Baker or Bagel Chateau.

And we didn't know how long it would last, what businesses would return to opening or who amongst us would not make it through the pandemic. 

It was around May or June that the conversation turned to helping our town restaurants and businesses. I think that was the beginning of pulling the town together with a purpose.

Things will never be what they were but they are getting better.

 Solutions for languishing found...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/well/mind/flourishing-languishing.html

Getting vaccinated is the best cure for languishing.