The Silver Lining In The Corona
Well, well, well Coronavirus….well played…
Now that all of us are quarantined in our homes, it’s no doubt been a time of reflection for you just as it has been for me. The gamut of emotions swirling around in my head day in and day out range from gratefulness to resentment to boredom to freedom to fear and uneasiness. The days are long, the nights are longer. The silence makes my ears ring and I feel helpless and hopeless at the onslaught of all that is going on outside my door. I’m not good at sitting idle, and idle is what I am.
While we’re fortunate in this part of the country to have a population mostly employed by tech and other business where working from home is an option, there are those of us who aren’t so lucky. The worries of the economy and the future of my business consume my waking hours. And those fears, coupled with the fact that I’m a hug-loving extrovert make this quarantine unbearable on most days.
But I can’t help but think of the silver lining in all of this: there has to be one, right?
I feel like this pandemic has created a greater sense of community; it’s like a human behavior reset. This virus has put us all in the same boat, which is actually uniting us for once. We share each other’s pain and confusion, fear and anxiety. We understand one another. We get one another. And that’s something that I believe we’ve lost sight of over the years. Our society forces so much divisiveness…especially at a time when elections are happening and we’re pinning political parties against one another. Hate and intolerance run rampant during these times and the news is flooded with bitter he-said she-said attacks. Perhaps this virus will allow us to come together on a more human level; to take stock of what really matters: health, wellness, community and togetherness.
Another silver lining in all of this mess is the realization that most people can work from home. Now it’s difficult right now because the kids are also out of school; but I’m hoping that companies will realize the benefit and feasibility of their employees working from home so that our stress levels and environment can benefit as well. Traffic is amazing, having all the commuters off the road. The air is the clearest it has been in decades. The stress of commuting is gone, sitting for hours in traffic is gone. People’s lives have been freed up and have become more flexible having to adjust to the quarantine rules. To me, this is a plus: perhaps more employers can allow their employees to do more of this when this is over.
It’s times like these when we should be looking at alternative ways of doing things. When we are forced out of our old routines, we need to notice new opportunities. This virus has ultimately given us an open book for options to look into. We’re doing everything differently these days. Are these ways in which we should continue to do them when this is all over? Should we deploy some of these things for the future? Something to think about…
I had a thought the other week about school, and my fears of the kids being out of school until the Fall is something that keeps me up at night. And I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it’s time to move to year-round school. I mean, what an imposition to have kids home every summer for almost three months straight, amiright? Would it be better to have kids go to school year round, perhaps for longer straight periods in the Spring/Summer months (when flus and colds are at a minimum), and take more sporadic breaks in the Fall/Winter when flu/cold season is in effect? Would our health get better? Would we have fewer incidences of colds and flus if we’re ultimately self-quarantining our children during the germ-iest time of year? Maybe this virus will allow us to think about these things, to find themes that can be applied to our new lives when this is all over and ask ourselves, do these things make sense?
The best part of this whole thing though, for me, is the realization that we as a human species are still so dependent on interaction with those we know and love. This has been a very lonely time for a lot of us; and even if we aren’t lonely, we still probably miss seeing our friends and coworkers, family, neighbors, teammates and even the parents at our kid’s baseball games. We miss activities and things to do, and have realized just how much socializing means to us. Being mindful of the 6’ gap reminds me of just how close we used to get to total strangers and not think twice about it. Standing next to someone in line, passing someone on the street, chatting with workers in a store. These are all things we did with no thoughts about germs or viruses because this is how we connect. This is how we relate. The closeness we feel with others is an energetic exchange; a pass through of good will and intention. We love to connect. It is in our nature. It concerns me that it’ll take time for us to lose the thought of keeping a 6’ distance, and I sure hope that rule doesn’t stick.
I don’t know about you, but when things open up again, I plan to go out, shop, eat at restaurants, get my hair and nails done and honor all of those businesses that have suffered so greatly during this time. What a sacrifice we’ve all made to protect one another. And that’s the real beauty behind this disaster.