I’m sitting on my living room couch, sipping on coffee, balcony door open. Its quiet outside; not the quiet we hear normally on a Sunday - but its deafening silence. Occasionally there is an ambulance siren which my brain is now accustomed to think has something to do with COVID 19. It’s been a week, and the world seems to have changed in ways that stem out of some dystopian movie scene.
We have been on lockdown for a week. It seems much longer - well, time has always been relative right? It’s been a struggle, even for someone like me who is generally very used to being alone. This entire situation is challenging the very basis of human interaction. It’s exploring the dichotomy of our social existence, and between the news, the information, the absolute chaos that this pandemic is bringing, it is also making me go deep within and re-evaluate everything that I believed was ‘normal’.
So many things that I thought were only done a certain way, have morphed into a new reality. That meeting, could have been an email! FaceTime can connect you across the world. Solitude can teach you a lot about yourself and your surroundings. You miss your loved ones. You realise not to waste even those last 4 units of insulin, you become more steely with what you have, and you realise not to take anything for granted.
I have taken this time, to delve deep into all the things I ‘didn’t have time for’ before. Its re-enforced my belief that life can change in a second (first with Type 1 Diabetes, then with Diabetes Insipidus). Living in the ‘now’ has never been more paramount. It’s made me have bundles of gratitude for who don’t have the option to stay at home.
I am blown away by human spirit - its bringing out the absolute worst and absolute best of mankind. We can adapt, we can pull each other down, we can support and show solidarity from balconies, we can do our bit, and we can pull through. We can survive.
Our world may be very different after this pandemic - our values, our priorities and our efforts may change as well. What will remain, is mankind’s grit and determination. And maybe, just maybe this new world brings out solidarity, compassion, and the basic foundation that at the end of the day - we are all humans despite our race, religion, gender, economic status or beliefs.
Sometimes it takes an overwhelming breakdown to have an undeniable breakthrough.
Until then, Be Safe, Stay Safe and Keep others Safe. We will, get through this.
x
J.S