Truth be told, I had hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would be behind us by now.
Instead we have seen how viruses mutate to survive and thrive. This should not have come as a surprise as resilience is common to all life. Now that COVID-19 is with us into a second year and looks like it could be around longer, it is the effect of the virus on people at an individual, community, provincial, national and global level that is both telling and a test of our humanity.
People have had to give up plans, livelihoods, social interactions and in many cases their lives because of the pandemic. This virus has brought rifts in ideas, values, social standards, income and equality into sharper focus. The stress of an uncertain future has allowed the aspects of human compassion, innovation and service to shine. It has also provided fertile ground for the distress of financial insecurity, mental imbalance and physical exhaustion.
It makes sense given uncertain and unpredictable circumstances, that some people become more entrenched in their feelings and beliefs. Everyone can find comfort in and support for their own ideas or beliefs and so be less inclined to consider other ideas or a broader range of possibility. Fear and anxiety do not encourage flexibility.
At times of insecurity when people need more, rather than less open communication and innovative thinking to find new solutions to remedy problems, some people have been able to rise to the challenge. These clear minded innovators should encourage us to nurture and value our own intelligence, flexibility and resilience, in order to respond creatively to the complications and change ahead.
Above: Imperial moth. Photo Kim Y Hanewich
