Processing the newfound processes of the ever-changing process around me.

When I sat down and started thinking about how to even begin putting in the experiences of the year into words, the first word that came to my mind was process.

Since truly the beginning of time, society and the world around us has followed a process. As innovation occurs and society shifts, these processes change. This can be really anything—how we communicate, what we do for entertainment, and even how day-to-day experiences proceed. In my lifetime, I have seen communication go from a corded landline to the ability to see each other on a mobile touchscreen phone, going from cassette tapes and VHS to Spotify and Netflix, and even have seen the way major entities in the world change drastically. As a public school employee, I have seen standards of education increase in a variety of ways. Overall, the processes of my world have varied based on myself aging and entering different phases of life.

However, in this year, the processes of the world were and are truly flipped on their head. Everything we do, down to the amount of space we are apart, has changed. I think this has affected so much more than a mask wearing requirement and six feet of social distancing—our brains process things differently. In my school buildings, students are reacting to all situations differently due to fear of a shut down. So many professions are affected and mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. And me, working with students who we cannot find, who cannot engage, or having social emotional distress causes a total process overload in my brain most days.

We are all aware of the effects that COVID-19 is having. These observations are not new. However, at this point of the pandemic, I think myself as well as others lose mindfulness of the ongoing impact that each and every day is causing. I have experienced many different processes, and this one is by far the most impactful. 

Spend a little bit of time processing what is happening around you and how others might be processing our world. Your process may make a difference to those around you.