Spiritualists Surge; and 'Postponement Fatigue'/'Re-entry Anxiety' Are Common

 #Casey Cep, "Kindred Spirits," The New Yorker, The New Yorker, May 24, 2021. - "Almost a third of Americans say they have communicated with someone who has died, and they collectively spend more than two billion dollars a year for physic services on platforms old and new." "The surging numbers are reminiscent of the late nineteenth century when somewhat between four million and eleven million people identified as Spiritualists in the United States alone." "In the years following the Civil War, when around three quarters of a million dead soldiers haunted the country, spirit photographs were  in high demand."

#Eliana Dockerman, "Ready to commit," TIME, June 17/June 24, 2021. - "In a typical year, Americans throw 2 million weddings, according to the wedding website, 'The Knot.' "Last year, about 1 million couples in the U.S. postponed their nuptials. canceled them altogether, or had a legal ceremony and delayed the reception." "Landis Bejar, a licensed mental health counselor, says that such anxiety is now common. She founded AisleTalk, a company that specializes in counseling couples as they plan their weddings. She saw a 33% uptick in business from 2019 to 2020, and is on track to see an additional 26% bump this year." 

"Brides and grooms have been forced to become amateur public-health prognosticators." "Couples have begun to express what Bejar calls 'postponement fatigue,' the inability to get excited about a wedding date, because they fear they'll have to reschedule and replan for a second, third, or even fourth time." "After all, we're all a little traumatized. Psychiatrists have dubbed fears of returning to normal life, 're-entry anxiety,' and the American Psychological Association reports that about half of all Americans feel anxious about resuming in-person, indoor interactions."

#Clara Nugent, "Emissions tests for airlines," TIME, June 17/June 24, 2021. - "The pandemic succeeded at something policymakers and campaigners have been powerless to do: ending decades of almost uninterrupted rapid growth in aviation carbon dioxide emissions, although they are still  projected to grow by a lot. Before COVID-19 hit, the aviation sector's carbon emissions were expected to be three times as great in 2050 as in 2015. Analysts now put the figure at closer to 2.3 times." "In recent months, dozens of airlines have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050."  

"Only a third of business travelers in the U.K. expect to return to their prepandemic habits, according to an April poll."