How we choose to talk about where we are and where we’re going is no small matter.
The way we choose to talk about things is vitally important. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously put it, “Words create worlds.” Embedded in this elegant three word sentence is the transformative idea that language does not describe what we see, it forms it, gives it shape, creates it. We construct our reality through the use (and misuse) of the words we have at our disposal, and this makes it essential to give our full attention to this endeavour.
We’ve reached a point in the trajectory of the pandemic where a number of political and business leaders along with voices in the media and regular citizens are all calling for “re-opening” our economies. A dedicated, and occasionally frantic, search for the “new normal” is in full swing.
I worry about the implied narratives that come along with words like re-opening and normal, even if the latter is preceded by “new”. When I hear these words spoken in conversations about what might be next, I feel myself turning to look behind me. They pull me backwards and orient me toward the past, as if we are to think about the pandemic as a temporary interruption to business-as-usual and life as we knew it.
Earlier this year at a time that seems oh-so-very long ago — 3rd March, to be precise — I gathered with over 20 friends and colleagues at a dinner where we shared food, drink, stories, laughter, and companionship. We were still 3 weeks away from the official lockdown in the UK, but even then things were beginning to change. Two of our guests work at the NHS, and they were already hesitant to accept the warm, physical greetings being offered around the room because of what they were being instructed about the nature of the virus and the ways we needed to behave in its presence.
A mere three months later, and it is hard to conceive of “going back” to the same kind of convivial night — or anything like it — anytime soon. Even if the restaurant where we enjoyed the event “re-opens”, I expect the conditions and constraints that are now part of being with other humans would make a repeat impossible.
This is why we need to be aware when we may be creating expectations, even unconscious ones, that it is only a matter of time before we can reclaim the lives we were so comfortable with. Doing so prematurely will certainly and unnecessarily increase the risks we are all facing. Rather than “re-opening”, I’ve been collecting a growing list of “re-“ words that I think better articulate the future we will be creating as we bring the threat of the virus down to a manageable level. Here are my current favourites:
Re-imagining
Re-setting
Re-shaping
Re-thinking
Re-designing
Re-inventing
Re-building
Each of these words asks us to form a new conception of what we have known, to change it and make improvements on it. Importantly, none of them suggest throwing everything out and starting over, though there may be some places where that is the best option. In addition, each of them has a strong and clear future orientation. They invite us to look closely at what we have and where we are at this present moment, and then to step carefully and confidently into what is possible.
The words we use create the reality we inhabit. Whatever words we choose, let’s make sure we are listening to each other and asking good questions to make sure we agree on what we mean.