Delivering Love

I am definitely not of the school that thinks the world has gone mad . Every fibre of my being says this terrible virus needs to be respected and taken with the utmost seriousness. Every medic I know has expressed similar feelings of being on the precipice of something the likes of which we have never seen before . I think now , that can be in no doubt.

The official numbers are but a pipe dream because the reality is only those who are in need of medical care are being swabbed . The real truth is many many thousands of every day people are already walking around with corona virus in one state or another and that number can only grow . As it grows life as we know it will change . Fact .

I have believed for a long time that the world we live in is so fast , so small , so immediate that it is causing people to drown . Drown in hopelessness, fear , anxiety, burnout, lack of aspiration, unreal expectations, entitlement .. the list rumbles on and on and on . We do not, as a generation, understand want versus need and it’s one of the reasons that we have as a whole lost compassion for the world around us. We jump on social media plots and schemes and hashtag ourselves to death while ignoring the real world that is all around us . We are literally living at times in an alternate universe . Telling the world via Facebook to be kind , typing those very words while we walk on by the homeless addict in the street barely noticing their existence ! It is a world not to be proud of . For me it is a world that needs alteration . A reboot . A shake up … maybe even a global pandemic .

Western Europe has watched the tragedies of the millennium all over the world unfold . We have seen the decimation of Syria and watched the tragedy of human consequences unfold before our eyes . We have judged refugees and asylum seekers with less than impressive compassion and gone back to our comfortable lives . Now WE are the centre of the crisis and what do we do ? We empty supermarkets , make jokes on social media and act as if somehow we are above the reality of tragedy . No we are not . Prepare yourselves !

There is no question that legitimate and real worries abound for us all . Aside from health ,what about work ? Paying the bills ? Those small businesses so hard won that will suffer brutally under pressure . Education .. exams .. what will it all mean . Truthfully I do not know . However lessons from history tell me that all can be overcome . Seventy plus years ago this country was brought to its knees by a long and procrastinated war. People survived to thrive again – this we know . I think the fear lies not in the unknown but in the sheer lack of ever having faced a life that isn’t dressed with entitlement.

We live in times where most people have no comprehension of the word no . We take what we want when we want it. We buy on credit , we order the weird and wonderful from far flung corners of the globe all from the comfort of our phones . We need something we go get it. If we can’t get it we are aghast and can find lots of people to be aghast with us . For a generation of people who have bought their hand soaps to match their decor (myself included) the actual necessity and absence of such items is coming as a shock ! This is only the beginning and it’s time to stop the hysteria and start accepting there’s a new sheriff in town and she’s called Reality.

In reality ,life going forward will look less like what we want , think we need , and will be more about accepting the lack of immediateness. We will have to relearn family , community , purpose and above all entitlement, or the lack thereof . We will no longer meal plan from Instagram food blogs we will learn the art of using what we have . Food may once again be about fuelling our bodies rather than our desires . We will relearn family , what it means to participate actively in our children’s education , recreation and development. We will soon learn that if we are not willing to be in it together then we are alone . The dream is that a period of stripping lives back to basics may be just the antidote that is required for this selfish and forsaken modern world we exist in .

I say exist in earnest . Why ? Because a life lived only for self is no life at all . I believe that this dreadful virus and all the consequences that come with it could provide us with a second chance . A desperately needed reboot. A moment where we realise that instead of self reflection and self care we may have to be selfless and care for others . Instead of aspiring to summer holidays perhaps we can look forward to community spirit and the simple joys of togetherness . We can try to leave behind the ideas of need and want and regroup to appreciate the blessings of what we have .. be it big or small .

I think the blessing in disguise of covid19 may just be that we learn once more to be human . To love . To show compassion. To care. And above all to find contentment. Make sure your face mask is bedecked with love.