Amidst the chaos of the coronavirus, I saw this beautiful post.
“China sent medical masks to Italy with the Roman poem: ‘We are waves from the same sea.’ Japan sent supplies to China with the Chinese poem: ‘We have different mountains and rivers, but we are under the same sun, moon and sky.”
Humans have a tendency to unite during crises. It’s written into the fabric of our DNA. Although it’s from an ancient place of survival, when we do unite, there’s so much beauty. Humans are spectacular like that.
Yes, this pandemic has caused fear, confusion and threats of danger, but it has something to teach us. Perhaps, we will realize how fragile our well-constructed systems of being are that a tiny virus particle, about one-millionth of an inch, can entirely change our values, priorities, views and daily lives.
The things that we once placed so much weight on have been completely destroyed by a virus. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter if you’re an Instagram influencer, a CEO, an addict or someone who is unsure of your next life move. Over night, it doesn’t matter what your political opinions are, who thinks they own what land or who you love. We’re suddenly all in the same boat: Lady Corona.
We’re suddenly all in the same boat: Lady Corona.
So what can we learn? Perhaps, it’s that we are not as strong as we believed. Maybe it’s that being kind and making this earth a better place is more valuable than followers and how much money we have. Maybe it’s to respect nature for the force that it truly is. Perhaps, it’s to simply sit and be.
Maybe it’s to appreciate the beauty of going out to dinner with your loved ones. Perhaps it’s to make life more sacred and celebrate more. Perhaps it’s the necessary beauty of staying home and sitting with the things we can no longer distract ourselves from. Our shadows. Our fears. Our hopes and dreams.
I hope that it’s all of the above because when it comes down to it, we are all the same, living in a world full of things we can’t predict nor control. May we allow this pandemic to quiet us, to rethink our long accepted ways of being. May we sit with what unsettles us and listen with curiosity. May we play games with loved ones.
May we allow this pandemic to quiet us, to rethink our long accepted ways of being.
May we hear stories and share our own. May we listen to our bodies, exercise them, nourish them and rest them. May we read, learn, write and create. May we humbly thank nature and promise to do better.
What a unique opportunity we have to be forced to quite literally be quarantined with our humanness. We are not as mighty and powerful as we believe ourselves to be in the shadow of this tiny particle. We are fragile things. We do have connection. We have the insanely incredible ability to create meaning out of chaos.
We have the ability to be kind and make the most out of this bizarre game we call life. It is entirely up to you how you play it: If you give your supplies to others or save them for yourselves; if you take side quests to faraway lands or remain focused on a single mission. You get to decide what abilities you choose to strengthen and how often you take a peek at the map to see how far you’ve come.
The game will end, as all games do, but when has the knowledge of a game ending ever kept you from playing? Let’s throw out the systems we’ve created to make sense out of what cannot be understood but can only be lived. Let’s be done with the orchestrated beliefs of what makes us worthy or unworthy, beautiful or not, capable or not. When this pandemic is over, don’t forget your humanness.
When this pandemic is over, don’t forget your humanness.
Never forget what something as small as one-millionth of an inch did to the world. Please, for the well being of the earth and all that’s on it, be kind, respect the earth and enjoy your time on it.
Image via Colleen Young
