We’re living history right now.
Most of us probably realize that to some extent, whether our minds will let us fully grasp it or not.
This is the time when everything changed. The major pandemic scientists warned us about, that some had said was long overdue, is now here. And the havoc it’s hammering down upon society, from ICU overload to human loss and economic destruction, is worse than most of us could fathom just a few weeks ago.
Yes, things have irreversibly changed. For the next few months – up to two years, they say – we’re going to be living some form of social distancing, whether that looks like the stricter form many of us are practicing now, something more relaxed, or a mix of the two as the virus loses and gains ground, on repeat, until a vaccine arrives.
Many speak of experiencing a form of grief, and I don’t think that’s far off. Not that I’m a mental health professional, but I know what loss feels like, and this is it.
It’s not like losing a loved one – although many people are sadly experiencing this, too. This is a different kind of loss. It’s more of a collective grief rippling through society as we begin to miss our extended families, friends, coworkers, teachers, neighbours and baristas. We miss our restaurants, beaches, vacations and window shopping. We miss hugging and sharing drinks at the pub and festivals and movie theatres. We miss our jobs if we no longer have them. We miss going out for groceries without fear. We miss the people we were just starting to build relationships with – where could that have gone, if only? We miss life.
And we worry. We worry about those on the front lines, those who can’t stay home, those who feed us and care for us when we’re sick and deliver our mail and pick up our garbage and keep our lights on. Maybe we didn’t notice them as much before, the invisible ones we took for granted. Or maybe we looked down at them for having jobs we wouldn’t even consider not long ago.
But that’s changing. They’re essential. They always have been, but now we see their value. We thank them. We celebrate them. We stay home for them. They don’t stay home for us. That’s the sacrifice they make every day.
Things are changing. We can feel it, and that’s part of the loss. Change, in a big way, is loss. It’s losing one thing as we shift into another. But what are we shifting into? What is this new world we’re entering as we exit the old one?
That’s where the fear comes in. We just don’t know.
But right now, in this time, as awful as it feels and as frightening as it can be, we have an opportunity to create the world we want - to fix what’s broken.
When the dust settles after this pandemic – and it will – we’ll be left with a slate that isn’t exactly clean but will be less crowded. What we add to it is up to us.
Will companies once resistant to the idea of work-from-home options allow more flexibility now that they’ve seen it in action?
Will the school system become more amenable to online or part-time options for students who need it?
Will businesses opening or rebuilding after the economic fallout do so with fresh ideas on how to weather future crises, making them more flexible and robust?
Will food supply chain issues encourage us to discover more local options and keep using them after this is all over?
With carbon emissions down worldwide, will we be inspired to welcome more green alternatives to further reduce our footprint?
Will we remember how, when we seemed more politically divided than ever, many of us put aside our differences and worked together to save lives?
Will we remember the important people in our lives and how much we missed them when we couldn’t be together?
Change is often frightening and uncomfortable. In times like this, it’s downright traumatic. We will be left with open wounds for a long time, which will turn into scars – painful reminders of what happened to us two decades into a new millennium – when, despite all our advances, we were still left to fight one of our oldest foes.
But we will also learn resiliency and acceptance which we can pass on to future generations. We’ll bring with us all the innovating, creating, connecting, teaching and giving that is currently flooding our social media feeds.
We’ll grow as individual people, and this will help us grow as a species. Make no mistake: This is evolution in action. But what we evolve into is entirely up to us this time.
Let’s make it good.