A TIME TO BE KIND, SPREAD LOVE

THESE days I often forget what I want to say in mid-sentence. At times I start walking towards a room only to realise I have just been to that room. I can also search frantically for something that is right before me. And I can stutter a couple of times until I get out a name that is usually right at the tip of my tongue. My daughter makes fun of me. She does not understand this change in me.

But I am not the only one. The other time, my sister and I went to see our mother who was not feeling too good, and on our way back; we passed by a police post on Simon Mazorodze Road. Just after we passed that post, my sister remarked to me; “Oh why are there no police roadblocks? I thought there would be police roadblocks so as to control the flow of traffic in and out of the central business district (CBD) during this third wave.”

I was amazed. I then pointed out to her that we had just passed a police post barely two minutes before she made her observation. She expressed amazement and said she had neither seen nor registered that the police were there. Imagine!

My neighbour also passed me by the other day. I hooted and waved but she did not see me. When I later sent a message checking on her and telling her how we had passed each other by on the road; she said she had not even seen me. She said her mind was preoccupied as she was coming from attending to her sister who is currently being treated for Covid-19. We spoke a bit and comforted one another and it hit me.

People are going through so much. And the person you bump into in the supermarket or inside the pharmacy who you get angry with may be one of those going through a tough time. The motorists on these roads we are on daily are not 100 percent present I tell you; as scary as that is. Yes, be scared. And be extra cautious.

At times I get angry at how someone ignores the clear ‘social distancing’ markings in the shops to stand very close to you or the next person until you call them out; then they actually apologise and tell you that it is because they would not have noticed the markings. Yes, they just don’t see the markings which are in place for their own protection. People are going round seemingly fine but they are not.

There is so much death, sickness, sadness and despair around us in this season that there is no way people can be ok. I know I am not ok. I think one of the things that the world will have to deal with post-Covid-19 is mental breakdowns.

People are struggling.

To go on social media right now is a trigger for many. For there are days when all you see on people’s timelines is “Rest In Peace.” All you see when you open these WhatsApp groups is death messages and pictures of someone you used to know who is now deceased. There are many social media accounts whose owners have died in this season and it is hard when you go there only to come across tributes.

Even family groups have become triggers. Old school hangout groups have become triggers. Every other day someone is losing their life. This third wave is wreaking havoc across Zimbabwe right now.

A colleague was telling me that they now sleep with their phone switched off because they can no longer handle the late night calls announcing a death or a sickness.

“I might as well hear the bad news when I get up because the nights are the worst. I struggle to sleep already due to anxiety and worry hence the phone is no longer something I enjoy having on,” he said. Another friend says she now ignores WhatsApp messages as they hardly contain good news.

“It is always someone being sick or dead and I cannot handle it anymore.”

Seriously we were not made to thrive under so much death, sickness and despair. It is too much. And to make it worse, as we cope with so much loss and devastation; we are also aware of the risks we ourselves face on a day to day basis from the demonic virus. For as people move, it moves and every day you are at risk of getting it.

I have friends who are recovering from it right now. But I also have some who have died in recent weeks. And we cannot even go and mourn together as we did before because of not just the risks but also at times while your friend needs you; you actually also need them.

At times while you are commiserating with one friend who is unwell or who has lost someone close to them; you are receiving a report about someone close to you who is also sharing something sad or you yourself are unwell. So who will be there for the other when we are all broken?

Who will comfort the other when we are all in need of comfort?

Everyone around has a story and the story is not a happy one. Many people have lost parents over the past weeks. Some have lost more than one family member in a short space of time.

Others have lost partners, lovers, children. And they cannot even mourn with loved ones as we have to be apart in order to be safe from this virus. It is depressing.

I write today to call on us all to be kind. Yes; let us be kind to the next person. Believe you me; as much as many of us are going around posturing as if everything is fine; many of us are not fine.

People are carrying wounds. And there is no time to nurse the wounds to heal as the wounds keep festering.

Let us spread love, kindness, compassion and empathy wherever we are.

Be it in work spaces, on the roads as we drive, in the food shops, on social media and wherever else we meet and interact with human beings. Human beings are stretched. And kindness and love is all we can share in this time of Covid-19.

Stay safe, Get vaccinated, Social Distance, Mask Up!