https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/11/uncertainty-new-normal-katie-hopkins/
One thing we all like in life, whether we admit it or not, is some degree of certainty.
Many like to be super-certain. Every little detail needs to be known, planned and re-confirmed in order for them to feel in control enough to get going.
For others, routines and norms create a kind of easy, everyday certainty that allows them to keep a handle on the muddles of life and get useful things done. It is easier to concentrate on work knowing the washing machine is empty or the parking meter is paid.
For a small minority, a passport, small bag, credit card and toothbrush are all that’s needed to feel certain they have everything they could possibly need. I put myself in this last category— although I’d add Tylenol to the packing list because pain is a secret thief of time and patience.
Whatever our own appetite for certainty, it is based on some notion of consistency in our wider lives. Whatever goes on inside our heads or our hearts or indeed our homes, we kind of expect the stuff outside our front door to trundle along in the same predictable way as it has done for years.
It is reassuring in some ways that winter will turn to spring, traffic will always be hideous on Friday, your mother will always feel left out of something and solicitors will overcharge for everything. Or, as my father enjoys reminding the family at celebratory moments, “the only certainties in life are death and taxes.” (I wonder if he realizes how old he is.)