Covid era musings: survival choices
I have not blogged in a long time. Covid 19 has been taxing and draining in many ways and I have found myself wondering why I could not put pen to paper in an era which is supposedly giving us more idle time. I then discovered I was wrong, while Covid 19 might have kept us away from physical engagements, the problems that came with it drain more time and demand more attention.
Covid 19 has shaped or reshaped how we relate. There are people that we could not stay away from, whose doorsteps we were at every other moment, Covid 19 changed that. https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people’s-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems
There are people who were breadwinners and capable persons before this pandemic. Covid 19 has criminalised a lot of innocent persons who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law (whoever knew that at a certain point leaving town without a letter of authority would be an offence?).
Covid 19 took way the safety in numbers concept. We found ourselves alone and the bravado of crowds taken away. Where we used to whip crowd emotions to make us feel safe, we found ourselves playing to empty stadiums minus the psychological 12th man of football (the supporters) and our response to the things that bedevil us has been a capitulating whimper.
Covid taught me to look more into myself. I had to learn to listen more, speak less and introspect more. I learnt to be more aware of my surroundings and my own safety. I had to consciously make decisions not to be in certain places to avoid an increased risk.
One pivotal thing learnt is the need to be ready for anything. Many nights I mused what would happen if the worst happened? Workmates, friends and colleagues found themselves down with covid and the absence of support mechanisms and resources would have meant their death. https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19
Covid 19 taught me the survival mechanism. The word isolation meant the leper colony aspect. I agonised over the pain, the anguish that my brothers had found themselves in during their isolation stints, cut off from human contact and being a danger to your loved ones.
There are many lessons
The greatest of them all that I learnt was that when all would have peeled away, I would be left with myself, only myself to draw inner strength to survive or perish.
I chose to draw on inner strength, I chose to face the odds. I still choose to be unafraid.
#iamphindelasson
#maskup #maintainsocialdistance #sanitisefrequently