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What day of the week is it?
What’s the date?
What time is it?
Does anyone else find themselves asking these questions more often these days?
Does anyone else find themselves disoriented?
“I’ve lost all notion of time,” my French mother-in-law said to me when talking on the phone a few months ago.
“Me too,” I replied. “I haven’t thought about it, but that’s exactly what’s happening to me.”
Blank Agenda
My agenda is still blank—other than a few work training and conference calls scattered here and there throughout the week. Work is slow. Our language classes are still not in session. Nothing is open. Nothing is happening.
Here in Spain, we all saw the calendar page of the month of March go from OVER-full to empty in a matter of 24 hours. White space, white space, and more white space.
It felt overwhelming. It felt suffocating. It felt strange. It felt surreal.
It felt exhilarating. It felt freeing. It felt good. It felt magical.
Staying home, relaxing, getting caught up on projects, not having to do school runs in the mornings and soccer runs in the evenings . . . it all sounded good.
For two weeks . . . for four weeks . . . for six weeks . . . for eight weeks . . .
The days have now become long, and I have lost all notion of time.
How long has it been now?
No Notion of Time
It’s now been six months of jet lag—six months with no notion of time, no schedule, no agenda.
As I was out walking my dog recently, I started thinking about this more.
It dawned on me that I actually do feel jet-lagged. It’s that same foggy feeling that I know all too well.
When you travel internationally, and you change time zones . . . things become blurred—in your mind, in your body.
You step off the plane and walk in a daze towards the passport control booths. Then, you slowly follow the exhausted crowd to the baggage claim area. You lean against your luggage cart for support while you watch the black belt turn in circles—mesmerized, dizzy.
You hope you will recognize your plain black suitcase in the midst of 400 pieces of colored bags twirling around. You see it, you check the tag. Make sure it’s yours. You hurl it onto your luggage cart with what little physical strength you have left in your sleepy body.
A new day has just begun, and you didn’t sleep a wink during the short night on the plane.
Foggy Sight
Jet-lag is a horribly uncomfortable feeling.
You lose sight of where you are, how you feel, what you’re supposed to be doing. Sometimes, I even get a little confused with who I am.
Foggy.
You aren’t quite all there, and you can’t focus and concentrate well. You feel unorganized and can’t find things. You feel a little lost and off track.
Unraveled.
While talking to my mother-in-law the other day, I realized that I, too, have lost all notion of time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
My daily rhythm is out-of-rhythm. My life balance is unbalanced. My sleep cycle is off track. My watch is going counterclockwise. My family routine is out of sync. My nice, neat ball of yarn is unraveled.
I can’t seem to find the end of the thread.
“Yes, that’s what’s happening!” I told my mother-in-law. “That’s why I’ve been staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. lately! I’ve lost all notion of time.”
Am I the only one feeling like this?
Is it Still Summer?
In summertime, this lack of routine and schedule is normal. There’s no stress and pressure to wake up at the crack of dawn to rush out the door to go to work and school. Kids and parents can sleep in and stay up late. Life is relaxed!
That’s normal!
However, living this way for six months is NOT normal, and it’s NOT healthy.
Here is Spain, we have been out-of-rhythm for a long time, and we are still out-of-rhythm. Life and school shut down at the beginning of March. Now, as we hit the last day of August, life is still slow moving.
Schools are still closed. Soccer is still cancelled. Parks are still locked shut. Movie theaters and amusement parks are quiet.
The summer here in Spain has been quiet . . . and according to my kids . . . BORING!
Our family has had little to no schedule or agenda since the beginning of COVID-19 in Spain. Six months of jet lag. Six months with no notion of time.
We now sit wondering if a schedule, an agenda, a program will ever be put into place.
Normalcy?
Is a normal life possible for our family again? Does normalcy lie around the corner?
School for our younger boys is set to begin tomorrow, September 1. We are waiting for final confirmation from the Spanish government. They are the ones to decide if the doors will open for in-person classes or if homeschooling is on the horizon once again for our kids.
We have no idea if our Spanish language classes at the local community center will pick up again next month.
There is still no word if the boys’ soccer club will reopen this fall.
We still sit in the fog. We still feel jet-lagged.
We need a schedule. We need something to grasp onto. We need a rhythm.
Someone told me, “You can’t control much these days. So, just do what you can with what you know.”
I think that’s good advice for this foggy brain of mine. Those are words of wisdom for my heart and soul that long for stability and hope.
Resurrection
None of us know what tomorrow, September 1, 2020, will bring—if a normal school, work, and family routine will resurrect.
Until then, it’s time to find some normalcy in the change. It’s time to find some calm in the storm. It’s time to find some clarity in the fog. It’s time to find some peace in the anxiety. It’s time to find some control in the chaos.
I’m going to try to put together a new family schedule and get ready for a new school year—no matter what that looks like. Tomorrow, September 1, is a new month, a new academic year, a new page, a new season.
I’m hopeful.
It’s time to wake up from our slumber! It’s time to get over jet lag at our house! The plane has landed, and a new day is about to begin!
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
MY GIFT TO YOU—GET YOUR FREE EBOOK—”THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
Have any of you experienced these feelings of jet lag during these past six months? What has it been like for you? What have you done to combat it?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
