Eat. Gain. Wait.
What are the odds? The world is facing a pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic. And as we slowly re-enter the world, so are trillions of Brood X cicadas emerging from the ground after 17 years. The irony is that as the cicadas emerge and leave their exoskeletons and future brood everywhere, we, too, are going through a metamorphosis as we re-enter the world post-pandemic.
Eat
For the past seventeen years, these young cicadas have burrowed underground and had three jobs: eat, gain, wait. Sound familiar? During this pandemic, it seems as though we have done the same thing: eat, gain, and wait.
For some, the eat part was accomplished through exploring your inner Martha Stewart and creating complicated dishes like beef wellington. It was a time to have family dinners together, unlike pre-pandemic times when the opportunity was far and few between. For others, comfort eating was the response to deal with the unfamiliar emotions the pandemic solicited. Undoubtedly, this leads to the next phase of the cycle: gain.
Gain
Once the newly hatched cicadas are ready, they dig into the ground to find roots to feed on. Once underground, they are actively creating tunnels and feeding, not sleeping or hibernating as commonly thought. During these seventeen years underground, the young cicadas grow and prepare to emerge. While “gain” is an important part of the life cycle of cicadas, not so much for many of us. Our routines have been disrupted, and we find ourselves creating new habits that often are not helpful such as snacking too much or staying on the couch binge-watching our favorite series. Just as the “Freshman 15” is synonymous with the first year of college, the “Quarantine 19” is synonymous with the first year of living through this pandemic.
Wait
Lastly, there is wait. Scientists are still unclear as to how the cicadas know when seventeen years have passed. What is known is that, like clockwork, they will come up when the ground reaches an average temperature of 64 degrees F. What does wait mean for us? It means being unclear about when and if things will ever return to normal. Some have found creative ways to work through this phase. For example, social media was abuzz with photos of people recreating famous paintings or families quarantined together and doing fun things like having cooking competitions. For others, the wait has created a great deal of anxiety, fear, and a loss of connection.
Now, the time has come for both cicadas and us to emerge. Because predators will eat some cicadas, and others will become infected with a mind-controlling fungus, effectively turning them into “zombie cicadas,” it is important for their survival to emerge in the trillions. Emerging for us is quite the opposite. We still need to be proactive and adhere to social distancing, limit the number of people we socialize with and get the vaccine.
During this pandemic, we are all experiencing a metamorphosis of sorts. If you find that you are struggling with the eat, gain, and wait cycles of the pandemic, our counselors at LifeSpring Counseling can help.
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Written By: Irene Burks, LGPC
Photo credit: Victor Santos, Michael Kropiewnicki, Ann Nekr, & JESHOOTS on Pexels
Date of Download: 5/24/2021
