At this particular moment of de-escalation that has touched us to live, we are hearing endless reflections and debates about the political steps to be taken. There has also been talk of the emotional chaos caused by confinement, as during forced confinement there have been sudden apparitions of ghosts and private judgments that cover the frenzy of day to day. In any case, there is a question that needs to be highlighted, behind which more challenges are hidden than are thought: “What now?” This question shows the lack of direction, in short, it can be said that life is an indicator of fragile projects and lack of strategy. The truth is that the lack of a life strategy and the fragility of life projects are not fragile things.

In the following lines, I will try to dimension the effects of a lack of direction on life expectancy, in order to outline the historical moment underlying this minuscule phrase. In order to address this reflection, the first thing we need to do is talk about biographical expectations. Biographical expectations are the result of naturalized standardized life cycles, and our daily strategies and options follow the line of those life cycles. Moreover, individuals play specific roles and functions associated with each biological period (or age), over the socially constructed life cycle narrative. Starting from the collective subconscious, this narrative will largely define our place in society. In other words, we will soon realise that throughout our lives we are going to follow this hegemonic roadmap or, if not, we will oppose it: studies -employment-employment-partner-family-hypothmia-child-retireation-grandchildren. We will build strategies and tactics to sustain life according to that collective map that we inevitably have in our heads, following the roles and objectives of the segments of pre-adolescents and older people in each phase. Based on this roadmap, we socially establish our expectations of life, resources and public policies, as well as feelings of stability and of success or failure.

In the last decade, however, due to the continuous violent crises, the phases of these life cycles have elongated, increasing the ruptures between phases and intermittences. The time of study has elongated and the age of those who emancipate themselves from the parental home has been delayed. The age of having children is also being delayed year after year, for those who want to have children. There is a difference of 5.2 years between the expected and the actual age range, according to INE data. With regard to employment, the unemployment rate and the precariousness of contracts have diminished the chances of building a career path and it has become commonplace to move from one work area to another. These instabilities and ruptures have made the "lifelong" stratum ridiculous: employment for life, housing/residence for life, the lifelong partner, networks of friends for life... These cracks have aroused deep existential concerns. “Nothing is fixed, nothing is forever” is the new mantra, which inevitably keeps us in a state of permanent alert, even in a deep and intimate emotional vulnerability. As has been said, this rare concern has deep existential dimensions. Who am I? What are my networks? At what point in my life do I find myself? What do I want? What path should I follow in order to achieve what I want to achieve? And now, what?

This rupture of life cycles from generation to generation has brought with it the reversibility of life cycles, abstracting from the idea of phase change. There are many examples we have: People who, after 50 years, have been unemployed and have had to return home from their parents; people who at 30 years of age are still unable to become independent; women who at 35 years of age want to be lone parents, who cannot take that step because of the economic instability they live and the lack of a strong care network. Many, in addition, have been able to build their unstable lives from the stability of previous generations: becoming independent thanks to a home offered by the family of origin, educating children through the work of caring for grandparents (average of six hours a day), reaching the end of the month thanks to the help of the parents… What will happen when the last generation that has been stable disappears? In how many cases can we support this type of precarious and unstable life models?

In the post-COVID-19 era, it is necessary to make a place to this existential instability in some way. In fact, the unstandardization of these life models can be interesting when it comes to proposing alternatives. This instability, however, has its own risk. Because believing in something and having a collective identity diffuses the strongest conservatism, the most obvious adhesions to hate speech. Therefore, if we want to create sustainable alternative structures and strategies to sustain life, we need to politicize the fragility and instability that we are experiencing. Beyond political and economic terms, it is necessary to provide philosophically and emotionally space for failure, fear, uncertainty, loneliness, disenchantment and similar feelings. We must address the reconstruction of life expectancy and individual and collective trajectories brought about by these endless crises.