Thoughts on Covid-19

“These are extraordinary times”. This phrase has been embedded in almost every sentence, speech, post or email; causing it to lose its initially overpowering definition. With each passing day, media outlets compete in attempting to come up with shocking headlines, trying to catch the reader’s attention. Has it almost become a game at this point? I can’t tell if the weight i feel is in the words I read, or in the situation itself. As an entity, mankind has its own strange way of dealing with a crisis. We often become irrational and confused, selfish and detached, nostalgic and naive. With politicians acting like children in a petty fight, it seems unlikely anyone really knows what is happening, let alone what will happen. With a need to give the public a foreseen “fairytale ending” to this pandemic, we must face the honest truth; no one really knows what the future holds. As the world around us tangles with the tantalising use of words throughout media articles and news stories, we fall into boobytraps and lay our trust in the hands of the untrustworthy. At the end of the day, we are all human, so how can we know who to turn to for answers or who to trust? In times of stress or fear, we act in extreme and irrational ways, avoiding the perceived or real threat awaiting us. Starting in the brain, with the cerebral cortex (emotions) hijacked by the limbic system or the brain stem. When this happens, reactions are dictated by the cerebellum or limbic system before the neocortex can soften or control these reactions. It is, however, possible for the cerebral cortex to regain control, thus enabling the individual to act calm and controlled. In other words, we all act differently in the midst of a stressful situation, most of us not thinking straight. With this in mind, we can understand how this pandemic has created a stressful situation, to which we weren’t prepared for. In my opinion, a crisis sheds light on those who have the strength to be leaders. What did you do when the lock down started? Stay and help the community as much as we can? Become immobile and close yourself up? Flee to our safe place with loved ones? Acknowledging ourselves for who we truly are is not an easy task. Self-isolating has had its benefits however, opening our eyes and becoming more aware of our surroundings. We are finally starting to comprehend what we have been taking for granted – mother nature’s beauty. Those of us who live in bustling, noisy and time consuming cities don’t often see nature in the same way as those living in rural areas. However, now that the hustle and bustle of the city has died down due to imposed quarantines, we aren’t as distracted and start to notice our environment. We hear birds singing the song of Spring, we feel the sun beating its warm rays down on us and see the tree’s blossoming. The tainted irony of quarantine is that nature is doing just fine without us. Almost teasing us, nature continues to blossom through its cycle of Spring, appreciating the tranquility of our disappearance. This virus is affecting all of us; rich or poor, young or old, male or female, forcing us to unite and put aside the stigmatisation society categories each of us in. The sense of solidarity we are experiencing is unique in its contagion. It doesn’t happen often that mankind experiences the same trauma, making us put our differences aside. However, it seems it is not something which comes naturally to us, as our ego’s unforgiving pride stands in the way. Countries euphorically seek to become the next world polarity, whilst millions of people have died and many more are yet to be infected by Covid-19. Is it wrong to use a terrible situation to your benefit? Should we not think it normal to make the best out of a bad situation? With growing gratitude for life, family and abundance of food, I understand what I once took for granted will be a luxury now. We can’t possibly go back to living our day-to-day lives after quarantines are lifted. Too much has happened for us to forget. “Things will go back to normal” being splashed on twitter feeds and news articles making us feel as though it can be that easy. Why should we resort back to normality after this ordeal? How can we? Not only because of the number of deaths worldwide, the suffering and coming to terms with what we have lived through. Throughout the course of this epidemic we have understood that we are minuscule and unnecessary in comparison to the planet. If we want to live on this Earth we must take responsibility and treat it with worth. Whilst we have been treating the planet with such carelessness, we seem to have lost our way. This virus has proved that global warming is a very prominent and real threat, which we ourselves have created. Finishing on the fitting note that we do not know what the future entails, I cannot give a definitive conclusion to this essay. But I think the message we must take from this pandemic should not to go back to normality, but instead to learn from our mistakes, open our eyes and act.