COVID-19 and a new renaissance, maybe
Many articles tell us what to do while under stay-at-home edicts, minimal openings, and limited activities to avoid boredom. But for millions this is anything but boring.
I can’t even imagine the terror of the victims facing uncertainty, especially those confronting death. And the sadness and helplessness of the families, unable to visit bedsides, hold hands, or even pay respects at funerals, like loved ones dying alone in war. And the helplessness and frustration of the medical providers, working long hours in an environment as dangerous as the WWI trenches; a 9/11 every day.
Even those suffering “minor symptoms” are living through a long sickness with unpredictable outcomes and unknown long-term effects.
Then there’s the stress and worry of the millions who have lost their livelihoods and small businesses, and are facing dispossession, bankruptcy, medical bills with lost medical coverage, and with insufficient resources for even such basic needs as food and lodging.
Boredom is much to be preferred.
Slogans like “we’ll get through this together” ring somewhat hollow for the millions in mourning, with unresolved illness, or under unimaginable stress. We survivors may get through this together, but only if there are “together” recourses leading to a manageable future for all physical, sociological, and economic victims.
We actually have an opportunity to help define a very different and very positive future.
We may finally embark on that new renaissance we’ve been anticipating for a generation. This age of materialism, overspending and “what’s in it for me” may give way to altruism and concern for one another.
We may recognize that care for our elders is a deserved thank-you for their care for us; that continuing life, whether in-home, senior housing, assisted living or nursing homes, should be enjoyable and respectful.
Some of the leisure-time activities we resorted to or invented during our lengthy enforced time-out may carry over to new interests and a rebirth of artistic expression.
Ironically, during our isolation we’re actually connecting more, as we’ve been phoning, emailing, and texting far-flung relatives and friends. This relief from self-pity can be the start of renewed connections.
Further, those who volunteered and assisted in recovery or helped those in need may find new satisfaction in those kinds of selfless activities.
But perhaps most meaningful will be recognition and self-correction of our destructive wealth and opportunity gap. It’s not just people of color, it’s all low-wage hard-working men and women; it’s pockets of despair and poverty in our remote areas. It’s our forgotten elderly languishing in greedy nursing homes without nursing, our Native Americans on inhospitable reservations. This recent COVID epidemic is exposing this rapidly widening gap as never before. The pain, stress and hardship are now laid bare for all to see, making it harder to ignore.
Yes, for those of us who survive, compassion and understanding can replace ridicule and sarcasm. We can become more friendly than suspicious; more altruistic than mean-spirited; more involved than complacent; more creative than destructive.
More united than divisive. Maybe.