Unsettled

Julie calls out to me "Joanna!" She was walking in the opposite direction and she stops in front of me. We exchange Quebec style kisses on each cheek which barely touches the skin. She is tall and lanky such that we are almost eye to eye.

She is a few years older and also retired but she went back part time to earn money for travel. She tells me her work does not stress her in the least especially since it is elective. I tell her I don't miss the stress and the politics of my work in the least.

Since the pandemic ended we haven't gone back to our previous normal. We think our psychological scars have healed but that is untrue and the nature of work is having trouble defining itself in a world that got a taste of something different. We don't want to go back to the old way but haven't settled on what that new reality will be.

Inflation has forced many people to adapt and cut where they can. Housing and groceries are straining their budgets as GenZ struggles to jump start their lives and they delay their departure from their parental home. Purchasing property is almost out of the question for them and those who are fortunate will obtain it through inheritance.

The most unsettled period of my lifetime will take a long while yet to sort itself out.