Quickie: True New

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Over the past few days, I’ve been chatting a bit with a buddy of mine on Instagram, as she expressed frustration over the idea of the “new normal” term that keeps getting thrown around, in response to the idea of the result of the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. I want to quickly say that I’ve known her now for close to 8 years, and only now do I think her true capabilities are really starting to shine; she’s a smart one, and I hope she nurtures that with the passage of time! It was due to her intellect in discussion that kept our chat in my mind. Honestly, otherwise, I would’ve just shrugged off all the hysteria over the “New Normal” concept, but there’s a reason I decided not to…and it also involves something I’m gonna go into greater length on in an entry coming this Fall, and it’s part of where my Autistic brethren really shine (see? bet’cha thought that was being thrown under the bus after my last entry, right? Not a chance!)….

I know there seems to be an ideologic battle right now between “going back to normal”, and a “new normal”…..though honestly I think it might be something kinda in-between, and kinda-not. First of all, do you really think citizens are permanently walking around, dressing and interacting in public as though they’re 80s Howie Mandel and Marc Summers hangin’ out? I certainly doubt that very highly. Hysteria will die down at a certain point, and most of this will likely go the way of the do-do….in that respect, anyway. What I don’t see going the way of the dodo, however, is cultural changes, and adaptations based on our new understandings and behaviors.

You may be wondering: “Ok Russell, so what do you think of all of this, honestly?” Feel free to read this to get your answer. Also feel free to read it to understand how I’m gonna be bringing my community into this one, and very shortly….

Lemme quickly remind you here that the culture of the last century sorta “began” at the end of the teens, and the beginning of the 1920s….which is right about where we are now, as well; the 20s will be starting on January 1st. Basically, everything you’ve known up to this point has been a cultural holdover from the last century….it all starts to change around now as is….so in a way, this pandemic is “right on time”. Another reason I say it that way is because of a particular set of events that happened shortly after the culture of the 20th century started that reshaped America in the very least, as we knew it…

The Great Depression got its start at the end of the 20s, and then at the same time, collided with a disaster in the farmlands known as the “Dust Bowl”. People then also wanted to know when things would “return to normal”; instead, what happened–demographically– was a mass exodus from both urban and farm areas to a little experience that defined the rest of the 20th century known as suburbia.

My point is….regardless of what I think of this whole pandemic/hysteria experience, both a lot of bad and good will come out of it, thought it’s far too soon to tell what exactly that will entail, at least for the most part, and especially in regard to the long-term. The “dust” needs to settle first, and we aren’t even out of the storm in any way at this time. The only thing I can promise you is one universal constant: the only thing that never changes is that everything always does.

Now, I’ve previously stated here that Jeremy Hamburgh of the Facebook community Successful Dating with Neurodiversity stated in a video session that he sees folks not on the spectrum coming out, sooooo starved for social interaction, folks like myself will now be given more of a chance than we otherwise would have.

Well you know what? Here’s something I want to see my fellow brethren doing; hear me out guys:

I see your posts in the Autistic groups on Facebook, and I hear about how frightened and anxious you are over all of this. Well, here’s one of your big opportunities to shine, because I’m gonna use this entry to give you a few basic steps to help “supercharge” your Autism, and take advantage of the comprehension capabilities I know you have!

How you ask? With a few basic questions; I’m not gonna push it too much in this entry, cause this is kinda all something that I ginned up quickly earlier….and again, I have another piece coming later this year that will elaborate on it far better:

1. What have you learned about yourself in this entire experience? How have you learned you handle yourself in situations like this? Why do you think you handle them the way you do?
2. What have you learned about your Non-Autistic brethren and how they handle theirselves in these types of situations?

 

Now, before you proceed to go into an “emotion-dump” with me out of a sense of feeling overwhelmed and mentally overloaded, partially as discussed here , I want you to take a really deep breath–do some meditation if you need to–and get a control over your emotions as best as you know how. Next, what I want you to do is think about those questions I asked you, and then consider this: before you freak out at me for what I’m asking of you, do you have any questions? Do you have any thoughts coming into your mind that you’d be otherwise just shrugging off, and not even bothering to question? If the answer is yes, now is the time to consider what those questions are, why you’re thinking about them, and how this is all interconnected, and it is.

Next, regardless of whether or not you view me as a pompous, arrogant jackass for saying all this (join the club, I’ll even bestow on you VIP status), I want you to start doing some historical research; find out if we’ve ever dealt with things like this (on any magnitude) before, and see if you can find any common patterns; oh trust me, do enough research, and you will. They’re there, I promise you. You know what you’re gonna discover in all of this? You’re gonna start finding mental connections of your own that you never really bothered with before; oh, they’re gonna challenge and freak the shit out of you, and I hope they do! As I stated in my Comprehension piece linked above, to quote Zaheer from Legend of Korra “no, let it play out“

Kids, now is the time to start discovering your true potential; what you can really do when you learn to super-charge your Autism capabilities…and once you do, let’s see what you can bring to the table to make humanity even more prepared for future events 🙂