Pandemic: Shutdown provides opportunity for enrichment

Drawing optimism, opportunity out of darkness during pandemic

For all the obvious difficulties, illness and deaths that the coronavirus caused, I also realize that the virus provided countervailing benefits. Some benefits result from the solidarity of our species choosing to be kind to one another. Others are a result of a slower pace of life, an outcome of the shelterinplace orders. I call this slower pace of life the COVID pause. I will discuss both types of benefits in this article and propose why keeping some of these gifts will strengthen humanity going forward.

What are the first images that come to mind when I think of COVID19 and the human species? A Vietnamese grandfather with heart pains and difficulty breathing, being held in a bed, isolated without his wife, children and grandchildren gathered around, until the hospital staff checks that he is coronavirusfree. Not being with his family fills him with fear. This makes him weaker. He dies two weeks later, not from COVID19, but from a weak heart that was stressed beyond mending. An image of a young man who wants to provide for his three children and was able to do so until three weeks after the shelterinplace orders began. Then he lost his job and the income that came with it. The image of uncertainty in a 13yearold’s eyes as she sees the fear in her single mother’s face; the unspoken thought, “Where will I get the money for rent this month?”

All of these images speak of unfortunate sadness, stress and disillusionment.

Now, what happens when I look deeper? What happens when I choose to see through a lens that shows the empathy and greatness of our species instead of focusing on suffering and sadness? I see a family biking together laughing, absorbing the sunshine and fresh air. I hear frogs across from my home for the first time in years. I hear countless stories of young neighbors shopping for our elders, so these incredibly wise and vital contributors to our society can continue to stay safe in their homes. I read a story in The San Francisco Chronicle about the Los Angeles Lakers and Shake Shack. They both had received the first round of the coronavirus relief loan. Already wellfunded, they immediately paid the loans back so smaller businesses could benefit.

As I hold both the fearbased images as human animals, alongside the lovebased images as human spirit, I see the capacity of our species to both unconsciously react out of an instinct of fear, and consciously respond out of pause and thoughtfulness and choose to listen to the grace of our intuition, of human spirit. This conscious gift of choice is both innate and precious to our species.

So, how do I choose to live from human spirit?

Practically, this means acknowledging that my past frenzied focus on external material gain is only a symptom of my true desire ... to fill an inner hollowness. Therefore, only internal wealth can address the true source of my void. How do I cultivate this wealth? I honor and use this gift of the COVID pause. I choose to fill my wellspring, an invisible source of always replenishing love. I do this by spending time in nature, at home with my family, meditating, living a slower pace to find what really brings me joy.

As we begin to lighten our shelterinplace regulations, let us be thoughtful and judicious about how we choose to weave “the normal” into our COVID pause. Perhaps instead of things going back to how they were before the coronavirus, each of us consciously choose to keep some of the gifts of the COVID pause. Here is what I want to keep after shelterinplace ends.

For myself, individually: Slowing down Driving less More time for internal reflection More time outdoors and in nature Clearing clutter and organizing More flexible hours working from home More time with family More exercising Eating healthier with more vegetables.

For us, collectively:

Seeing more stars at night

Our elders living at home with their families instead of in nursing homes

Refugees being taken into countries and cared for immediately

Housing the homeless in unused hotel rooms

Construction of new buildings slowing down, and instead utilizing the ones built more effectively

Buying used items instead of new, from our neighbors and local community

Strangers wanting to hug (and now they’ll get to)

Nature shining brighter, hearing more birds and frogs, and seeing more wildlife come out of hiding. What would your lists be? What would the world look like if each of us chose to take this COVID pause as an opportunity? What if after shelterinplace ends:

Our employers grant us the choice to work from home more and commute less thus giving us cleaner air?

Those who employ the heroes that make our country run, like teachers, grocery workers, wait staff, custodians and health care workers, really honor them by paying them true living wages and better benefits and we all purposefully thank them out loud and often?

We continue to run errands for our neighbors, be kind to strangers and be kind to ourselves with quality selfcare practices?

I see a future where humanity is more thoughtful, altruistic and loving than ever before. A world that focuses on filling up our internal wellspring not with material purchases, and instead on those intangibles: a smile, positive thoughts and emotions, and honoring our planet. A humanity where our species lives from human spirit, aligned with grace and love. This vision is rooted in the truth that we are all connected: you, me, our country, our world, all humans, all relations, nature, our planet and our universe.

The COVID pause has given us an opening to live a slower, more purposeful life. It is an opportunity to be a better humanity and a better people. We each have the power to cocreate a world that continues this. It is our choice to collaboratively create a soulful future for us all.

Getty Images / iStockphoto