As we enter the new year 2022 I reflect on the strange and monumental events that COVID-19 has bestowed upon the world in 2021. I highlighted most of them in my book, Our Breaking Point, How COVID Has Us Exhausted, Irritable and Overwhelmed. I think we can all agree 2021 started off with a bang with the U.S. election, the wildfires and the mask resistance.
Although it seemed we were about to catch a break with the vaccines being approved and ready to roll out, the virus mutated – hello, Delta variant. Just as the world was starting to open up, it was closing down.
Again in 2022 we are entering into another unknown future with the new, fast-spreading variant, Omicron. It’s difficult to be enthusiastic and optimistic about a brand new year while wondering if we will still be living in a world of restrictions. We can assume the burden of COVID-19 will remain with us awhile playing a factor in most of our decision-making.
We are adapting and re-adapting (every month) to the “new normal”. It’s becoming a bit wearing to say the least.
My new book, Our Breaking Point, How COVID Has Us Exhausted, Irritable, and Overwhelmed was just released on December 28th. I feel most people will be able to relate to it.
Here is the book description:
2020 marked a sudden and dramatic change in all of our lives. Few events have affected the entire global population in the same way as this pandemic that wreaked havoc on our livelihoods, relationships, and general well-being. Not one of us was prepared, but as we come to terms with our ‘new normal’, we can start to process the shocking events that have happened to us in the last couple of years.
COVID-19 sent us retreating to our homes, limiting our communication to social media, texting, and video chats. These virtual interactions, which by nature cannot be as meaningful as in-person ones, caused a decline in our connections to nature, ourselves, and each other. In turn, this created an increase in technology addiction, social anxiety, and loneliness. Our mental health is declining, substance abuse is on the rise, and our coping techniques aren’t always healthy. Many of us are struggling to persevere, and with society fracturing more every day, civilization itself seems to be on the brink of collapse.
In Our Breaking Point, Treena Wynes takes us into the heart of the global pandemic to examine the ways COVID-19 has been burning us out.
But there is also a ray of hope shining in the distance: a way forward to a time when all of this will be over. By taking advantage of this precarious time, we can revolutionize how we treat work, education, social connections, and even our well-being. Even at a low point of burnout and exhaustion, we must recognize some positives that will come from this pandemic–We may just need to break before we can rebuild.
Our Breaking Point is a powerful manifesto on COVID-19, what we’ve collectively overcome, and where we, as a society, will go from here.
Our Breaking Point is available on Amazon. It’s already on the Hot New Releases list.
It will be interesting for me to look back at this blog in a year’s time and see if we learned new lessons and how COVID continues to shape our future. I wish everyone a happy 2022 that is full of joy, relief and peacefulness. We can all use a little bit of it nowadays.
