With the distribution of vaccinations and the reopening of restaurants and stores (without a capacity limit around Ontario,) people are getting excited and are looking forward to getting back to reality. Especially with the winter holidays coming up, people want to see their friends and family next month and celebrate with the ones they love. The Distillery District’s Christmas Market is in the process of assembling their star of the show (their giant and festive Christmas tree) as we speak and The Eaton Center has already put there’s up, so it’s no wonder why everyone is getting hyped up for this holiday season and enjoying the city activities. Things are reopening and we want to enjoy them!
Just this week, the land borders between Canada and the United States of America reopened and people have already crossed over to see relatives and do some casual shopping. I don’t know about everyone else but all this talk about travelling and being able to go on vacation soon makes me so excited to just be able to fly somewhere and relax on a sunny beach, and hopefully 2022 is the year for all that to happen!
When we think about getting ‘back to reality’ here are a few things that are slowly becoming normal again in our city, that proves we’re on the right track to life as it once was:
-We can start to travel again – with restrictions
-We can attend sporting events
-We can see our friends and family in a larger group settings, perhaps even attend a few events like weddings and baby showers
-We are slowly being integrated back into the office a few days a week
Personally, I am super jealous when scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing my friends and family in the States, getting to attend and enjoy concerts like we once did before. I can not wait for the day where I can walk into a concert venue and share all of the immaculate and wonderful vibes with the hundreds and thousands of people around me, enjoying our favourite artist.
But even though there is so much excitement surrounding this idea of getting back to reality, there are still a large group of individuals who enjoyed their alone time, or remote working during the pandemic and would rather not re-enter society as they once did, so soon.
Many people are still holding on to the fact that they can cancel plans and get out of events or group outings but soon enough there will come a day when those reasons won’t work anymore and people will be forced to go back into the office and travel for work, or have to attend social events. Believe me, I’ve gotten so used to saying ‘sorry I can’t come because, one we’re in a pandemic and two, I don’t feel comfortable in a large crowd yet,” that I’ll have to force myself to go out and gain some form of social interaction soon!
It’s important to note that as of right now, we are all in very different stages- emotionally and physically, so we need to be aware of other’s feelings and even though we may be excited to try out the newest restaurant downtown our friend might feel anxious about going and that’s totally ok too. We’re so close to getting back to reality and having life be just as it was a few years ago, that waiting a few more months (hopefully not longer, fingers crossed) won’t hurt us. So for now, let’s enjoy what we can while restrictions are being waived and getting to celebrate the holidays in the city this year.
