You, like me, might be in a state of shock following the
emergence of this global pandemic and whilst lots is being said about it, I
thought I’d take some time out to reflect on what I see coming out of it.
Generally less anxious than most and maybe even a bit positive.
Whilst there’s no shortage of positive messages and support
being shared globally, this video from Russell Brand really struck a chord with me. So
much so that I actually just want to build on three points he raises, so might
be worthwhile watching before reading on? Or not. The first 2mins are worth it and the rest you can skip... bit of a ramble.
1. Rehumanising
One of the positives I see coming out of the pandemic is
that we’re taking greater care for one another and, in general, being better
humans (leaving aside panic buyers). I suppose it’s the revelation of how truly
interconnected we all are – that we all breathe the same air. The virus doesn’t
discriminate against nationality, ethnicity, age, gender; it just attacks all
humans. I guess too often we see those we don't necessarily associate with as the “other”, but this pandemic reminds us that we're all human and innately tied together.
Some examples I’ve seen of us tapping back into basic human
qualities are:
- Kindness – “spontaneous community groups are emerging” people are more inclined to help now than they would’ve been previously, maybe because they know the virus affects everyone and not just the lower socio-economic classes.
- Connection – it’s ironic, but ‘social distancing’ has resulted in me actually reconnecting with friends that I haven’t spoken to in years! Now I have a reason to call and talk about this shared human experience, but why didn’t I call previously?
- Taking care of oneself – people are now becoming hyper-aware of their health and fitness, having time to enjoy runs or home workouts, and even making more effort for home-cooked meals. But why was this not a priority before coronavirus?
So what choices are we going to make before stepping back
onto the hamster wheel? Will this experience teach us to be better humans? I
hope so.
2. Revelatory fear
Surely we knew something like this was coming and that this
is a “a revelatory fear as opposed to a newly-ignited fear”. That under the
surface of our clean and comfortable lifestyles there is a precarious, complex,
global network of systems that holds everything together. All it took was a
tap from a virus in some city in China to send everything into disarray.
Some of the things we used to do in an “unconscious way” are
now being revealed to us and invite us to think: do we really want to go back
to that? Should we really be flying around the world as much as we used to?
Should we really be consuming that much from all the shops that are now closed? Should
we really be eating wild exotic animals, maybe even bats? Definitely not!
I reckon one sign of a lack of faith in the “system”
(whatever that’s defined as) is panic buying. Here in the UK, leaders from the
top down were telling people not to do it and yet it happened en masse. I’m not
exactly sure what the psychology behind that was – survival instincts? selfishness?
herd mentality? – but it just felt like there was a lack of trust in all that
was being said. If people are that scared they won’t have TP to wipe their
butts with, then surely it’s a short jump from that clean and comfortable
lifestyle to straight up anarchy.
But this is all a bit of a microcosm of things to come I
feel. Our disconnection with nature is more likely to send us into a continued
state of shock in the coming years. I’m not trying to be alarmist, but some of
the experts paint a pretty grim picture like in this NY Times article ‘The
Uninhabitable Earth’. WARNING: it’s a scary read! And so once the whole
coronavirus situation blows over, I hope we can quickly pivot to addressing the
even more pressing concern of climate change. But I’m pretty sure that won’t
happen and we’ll continue to be wilfully deluded.
3. Taking time out
One idea people have been throwing around is to
fill our now vacant time with something new like a: hobby! language! recipe! To
these people I say “no”. Sure, filling some of your time with something new
makes sense, but what’s with the idea of constantly having to distract
yourself. Why can’t we allow ourselves free time and maybe even the chance to be bored?
This is a quote that I like:
"All of humanity's problems stem
from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone" - Blaise Pascal (1654)
So I’m taking this time out to reflect.
I think if we were to treat this period as anything but a
major disruption to our lives – something we can glide past by filling our time,
or simply wait eagerly for things to “get back to normal” – then we might just
be missing something. This is an opportunity for us to assess all the good and
bad that’s going on in the world, and to consider if we might be willing to do
something about it.
I’m taking this time out to generally be slow (e.g. reading,
sitting in the sun, writing this blog) and reflecting on all that I’ve shared
above. I hope that you can take some of this precious time out to do the same, so that when we’re back up and running on the hamster wheel in a few weeks’ time we
might be (even slightly) better humans.
Stay safe and healthy friends!
Karl
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