A pandemic or a global lesson from nature?
During the last days, my family and I had to change habits, cope and put in practice imposed measures to help to delay as much as possible the spread. Yes, we are concerned and scared up to a degree.
It gutted us the fact we had to cancel a surprise trip to Portugal. I alone being a sole child am suffering not from homesick (once I consider Cardiff my Home), but it is quite hard not to be able to see my parents for almost two years now.
They live in a place that was close to people from outside the moment Portugal started to have some positive cases. It was done like that to protect the population of that place: older people with underlying health issues. Getting out is also not permitted.
I feel gutted because my kids and wife were quite keen to see some friends again and remember some local experiences. After all, it is the country from we all came.
Again, I am only hurt (in a much deeper way, I believed I would be) about not being able to see my parents in such a hard moment for all of us. They are not getting younger.
I could not care less about the money lost with plane fares and hospitality.
I honestly believe in general people are not yet convinced this is deadly serious, and we all have to take a step back from our usual routines, assuring with that that we will be able to go back and do all we did as we did in good health.
I understand life cannot just stop. I know we are all living in a very economic centric society. But shouldn’t Human beings come first in all circumstances? I fear no to be able to assure bread and butter to the family if I have to keep taking some chances that from my perspective, could entirely be avoided. I don’t take them as a personal choice, and I often fall in a Catch 21 situation because ” things have to be done” to keep the economy-centric mentality alive.
Do I have to ask if I fall sick or worst, who will care about me? My family, for sure, but “care” means being able to survive in a world fueled by money. If I fail, the lives of another three human beings will be less secure for a while.
In the right name of truth, isn’t this a wakeup call from the Planet? Does it not seem like Earth is finding a way to self-balance itself in a moment Humans appear to be a virus infecting it all together?
Before cars, boats, planes, houses, night outs leisure and goods, Nature was here. We invented these “needs.” I do like them as well, note. But it seems that once a century we are called back down to reality by Nature. It has a clear way to remember all of us how fragile and dependent on the surroundings we are.
I am quite positive we, as a species, will outcome this pandemic. Covid-19 will be just a note in history books in a century. However, please do remember: we are fragile. Other dominant species before us perished. It seems like there were already five mass extinction events in this pale blue dot that floats in a not so central place of the Milkyway.
Do not get me wrong. I am proud to be Human. I always get surprised by our capacity to understand what is around us. Science seems to have come a long way ( and it did ), but there is still a lot to learn.
One of the things I believe we could use this time to discover would be a complete replacement of the existing money-driven mentality with something more realistic. Not an easy one, I know. To be completely honest, I would not know how to do it. I just know we have to.
To all of you, please stay safe and do your best with your available choices.
