VI: Coronavirus

The world’s filled with all sorts of people. I’m lucky to be privileged enough to view the world and its entire spectrum of people. I’m lucky to be alive in a time of social distancing and isolation.

In a world where the infodemic reigns alongside the pandemic, it’s important in this confusion of misinformation and widespread panic to realize how we want to emerge from this chaos.

The silver lining is that we get to confront ourselves — to get a good look in the mirror of who we really are, and get a good long look at that. Like an oxidized onion, we’ve got a good chance to get back to who we really are, underneath all the refined layers.

And from this emerge three important questions we need to answer in this time. Who are we? I’m not talking about individuals  — I mean the entire human species. What have we done? And what will we do?

Now that we’ve been effectively been grounded by nature — rebuked and told to go to the corner and think about what we did — it’s a good time to reflect.

Nature’s reclaiming the land we abused. When this is all over, how will we treat the environment? Will we go back to our old ways? Will we take steps to preserve it?

Peoples — despite the physical isolation — are coming together virtually to celebrate human culture. From high school graduations to university commencements, we’re learning how to continue living and celebrating achievement. When all is normal again, will we continue making excuses to prioritize a salary over genuine human connections? Will we use our jobs to excuse our unwillingness to come together?

There’s a lot to learn in this time.