If there is one thing this pandemic has taught some of us it is how precious and valuable life really is. While there are those who seemingly see little value in their lives, there are others who are learning to appreciate what really matters, like good health, compassion and being able to spend time with the ones we love.
Here we are fighting against an invisible enemy and one that is so powerful that it has and continues to rip us apart from our loved ones. But it is worth looking at the virus from a different perspective: What if it is an ugly but timely reminder of how much we as humans have lost our humanity? And to remind us to value what is really important? What if it is a reminder of how we have become so caught up with meaningless and sometimes destructive behaviours that we have lost track of some of the basic principles of humanity, such as love, kindness, empathy and compassion?
Since lockdowns across the world, scientists have noted that the ozone layer has begun healing, animals are roaming freely, weather patterns are changing or perhaps “normalising” and all because we aren’t overworking ourselves or polluting the environment since we are obligated to stay at home. And now that we are home, we have started to be at one with nature, so much so that we have found great delight in planting and gardening and quite apart from ensuring our food security, we find it therapeutic to see nature do its work. We now have a greater appreciation for life in all forms but we need to sincerely ask ourselves if this would have been possible had we not been cursed by a deadly disease.
It definitely isn’t easy to adapt to a new way of life but we have now had several months to get used to it, and during this time many have found great pleasure in working remotely from home simply because they get to breathe, and have more time to themselves and for their loved ones. These people realise that they have been overworked and burnt out and that they actually spent very little time on the things that matter the most.
Everyone has been coping differently ever since COVID-19 came and turned our lives upside-down and it’s entirely up to us how we decide to look at it. We can sit and moan in a corner, hoping and praying that a vaccine comes out or we can simply embrace this new way of life especially as all we are being asked to do is to take necessary safety precautions. How we all come out of this pandemic, for those of us who are lucky enough to, will be determined by our attitudes and the steps that we are willing to take. The virus will likely go away but for now maybe it has provided an opportunity for all humanity to wake up and realise that we have failed and that we should do better at caring for ourselves, for others and for our environment.
Alicia Roopnaraine is a Psychologist at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Psychiatric Department. You can send questions or comments to her at aliciaroopnaraine@gmail.com
