Pandemic Lessons

This past Friday, March 11, was of course, the two year anniversary of the Great Pandemic Shutdown. 

Since then, I've been mulling over my "takeaways" from this experience. Although the pandemic is probably not over, it does seem to be winding down, with the ferocity of the virus waning and people's patience wearing thin.

So I ask myself: "What have I learned from this experience?  What have we as a society, as a world community, learned"?

We learned, for one thing, that we are not insulated from the rest of the world -- what happens in China or Africa or Italy very soon becomes part of our experience as well. We share one planet, breathe the same air, experience illness, suffering and loss in the same way.  Many people found that, having exited the "rat race" for awhile brought them a new awareness of the value of time with family and time to pause.

We learned that the human spirit is strong; that we can survive isolation and illness as we find new ways to connect (Zoom!) and new ways of adapting to whatever there is to adapt to.  We learned that when there is no toilet paper and little food on the grocery shelves, we can still somehow survive the inconvenience and go with whatever we can find.

Personally, I learned the value of simple things -- a daily walk in the park to experience the restorative power of nature; the beauty of silence and extra time for prayer; the soul satisfying aroma of fresh baked cookies and bread. Of course, we did our share of Netflix binge-watching to pass the time and we listened to a lot of great music. 

 In fact, as I look back, I realize that, in spite of the churning anxiety often caused by knowing that a mysterious virus was invading the world, it was a time capable of teaching lessons for those who were listening.  If you were fortunate not to have the virus touch your life in a painful, devastating way, it can be seen as a time of personal growth, capable of helping us to see areas in our lives that need changing.  We paused, we examined and we hopefully developed a new awareness -- of ourselves and the world around us.

So, for today, I am thankful for whatever good came out of our time of planetary pausing and will take those lessons forward with me as I continue my journey.