Sarah Warsi

Today, March 11, marks the two-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization officially declared a worldwide pandemic when cases of a little-known virus soared at uncontrollable speeds, resulting in what would be a tumultuous 24-month journey filled with realization, grief, gratitude, sorrow, patience, and so much more.

On this day in 2021, we were still right in the thick of it with the end seemingly still far away as the main focus centred around ‘getting the jab’. Now, two years later, we (finally) feel the weight lifting, the burden lessening, and the fresh smell of a new and refined normalcy. 

In mere days, mask mandates will be a thing of the past, leaving it up to our own individual discretion if we want to wear one. I’ve given this some thought and I feel like wearing a mask in a super enclosed public setting, like public transit, should have been the norm during pre-pandemic times. Now it just seems like a no-brainer. I guess it took a pandemic for us to change our mindset? *shrugs*

And speaking of a no-mask future, it will be nice to be able to wear lipstick properly again! My makeup regime was constantly feeling haphazard knowing that I couldn’t properly apply lipstick. (haha) Ladies, I know you’re with me on this!

And if my ears could talk they would thank me for restoring some moisture in them after prolonged periods of excessively dry skin behind them from the chronic rubbing of the mask handles. I’m sure I’m not the only that had this problem.

Most importantly, it will also be nice to just regularly see people’s beautiful faces in their entirety again when you’re on the street or just out and about.

And call me a nerd, but it has given me a small sense of joy to see my inbox flooding with concert announcement emails again. I booked a concert in the summer and the anticipation is real! It will be so nice to be back in that setting after so long.

I think it’s important to take a moment to reflect on this milestone to really appreciate the progress we’ve made. It most certainly has not been an easy ride – mentally, physically and emotionally, but we made it and we are going to keep going.

With all of the unrest happening in the world, I feel a deeper sense of gratitude and appreciation for something as simple as our freedom. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see innocent civilians losing their lives for absolutely no reason at all. My heart goes out to all of the families suffering and I pray for their peace and for an end to this complete madness.

Stay well, stay blessed. Love, light and peace to all of you.