COVID-19 Blog: Adaptability

Sept 28, 2022

When you first see this green guy, what do you think he is thinking??Did he just see something that shocked him??Is he gleeful? Screaming...?

Chameleons have always intrigued me.?When I was younger, I thought it was wild that these creatures could hide in plain sight and yet be so beautiful at the same time.?Their adaptability is what makes them so unusual.?And, they use that adaptability to express themselves and regulate temperature.??I'm pretty sure that I came up with tons of other reasons for a chameleon's colors when I was little, but didn't know until much more recently that it was a common misconception that they use their color-changing powers to blend into their background.?(Wired?article)?It seems that their blending in might be somewhat accidental.

And the science behind how these creatures actually change color is pretty incredible.?Apparently, the outermost layer of a chameleon's skin is transparent.?The layers beneath that all contain chromatophores, which are specialized cells that hold sacs filled with various color pigments.?The chameleon's nervous system triggers those chromatophores to expand/contract and change color when the creature senses a change in mood or temperature. (Wired?article)

Try as I might, I couldn't change colors as a kid.?And now, as an adult (or so they tell me...), it can be even harder sometimes to stamp on a smile when I'm not feeling 100%.??

Something that I think this COVID-19 pandemic brought to the forefront for many is the idea that we are more than just who we appear to be to others.?Whether work was an office, a hospital floor, a child-filled home or any of the other numerous spaces that work can be done in.... it hasn't always been the norm to bring your entire self to the work.?I continue to say that this is a silver lining to come out of all of this craziness.

Embracing ALL of yourself is not always an easy feat though.?I know that personally, I've had to teach myself how to be comfortable with getting to know parts of myself that I haven't given much attention to, mostly because I didn't always like them.?I'm a social creature, who typically gets energy from others, especially in social settings.?I still feel like that's the case post-pandemic, but I've found that having so much time alone, has shifted how I have to do things.

Part of that is also aging.?I am definitely someone who believes that you are as old as you feel, but for me that can range from feeling incredible on one day and then recognizing that I've had a back surgery at 27 that is typically reserved for those in their 70s/80s.....?It's not stagnant.?Instead, it's constantly changing and we're having to adapt.?Just like a chameleon.??

My reaction to the pandemic was an increased need for down time in between social outings because I got more used to having time alone to?rest?when there wasn't anywhere to go.?This may have been something that I wasn't doing enough for myself pre-pandemic, but now post-pandemic (or still sort of in the tail end the pandemic), it's something that my body and soul are demanding I continue to do.

Do I wish that I could turn this off sometimes? HELL yeah.?But just like a chameleon can't fully control their color-changing, neither can we control some of our own adaptations.

What we CAN do, is learn to lean into these adaptations.?For instance, I now make sure that I have a day or two each week where I don't have anything planned.?I leave that space for whatever I might need that week.?Could be an extra workout, a long solo walk, cuddling with my pup, coloring, baking, calling a friend I haven't talked to in a while, vegging in front of the TV, screaming into a pillow...?It truly depends on the week.

What I've always struggled with myself was in giving myself the space and time to identify what I needed/wanted.?The pre-pandemic me didn't have time to press pause and take note of my own needs, often because I was too busy and too trained to ignore my own needs for those of others.

While my adaptation to grant myself space to just 'do me' isn't quite as beautiful as the super cool color changing chromatophores of a chameleon, I like to think that it's somewhat similar.?A response to the strange new environment that we were thrust into when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

I'm curious if others have experienced similar adaptations over the pandemic - feel free to drop a comment if you have!

<3 Vicky