From a book on resiliency:
"Eileen was struggling to get back to normal, not yet fully aware that she would have to reinvent what normal meant to her. She was going to have to come up with a new set of adaptations, because the person (almost killed by an alligator) was not the same person who came out."
I like the emphasis on action - having to reinvent. Not emerging as a changed person - having to take action, find ways to adapt and become that new, changed person. We are all wondering what the new normal will be when the virus is controlled and we can resume, but we can't resume in the way that was. We have to create the new society we will be after going through this catastrophe. We talk about bouncing back, but we don't bounce back to where we were - we "bounce" to a new, different place.
Active, rather than passive. That's where freedom is - in making choices, taking action, even unproductive action that leads to new circumstances which come with its own new choices. Not passive in the face of change, not a being acted upon but a being in motion, doing. Even if the only doing possible is making an internal shift, claiming a new perspective.
My image of being acted upon - standing alone, stationary, powerless, passively accepting instead of creating. As opposed to the energy of choice, the energy that comes from going into motion.
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