It Takes a Village

Times are unprecedented to say the least.  We are all starting to feel that on a personal level.  It's rather alarming that some deaths in 'other places' and a week self isolated can change our world, but it seems to, when bound together with tangible fear for ourselves, each other and our way of life.

I'm going to suggest that this isn't all bad, in fact some aspects of it are a good thing.

Now, I'm either a very late Boomer, or an early Gen X'er, so understand that my perspective here is shaped by my age and the times I've lived through.  Your own perspective may well be different - that's cool, differences make for a richer mosaic. I'm not right, (and neither are you) we're just a couple voices.  The key I think is listening to the voices.

The stress our world is going through right now could well be a good thing, as we needed a big shock to get out us out of our "me-centric" complacency and attitudes, to reframe the idea we're a community (many in fact) and there's much mutual dependance.   Right now many of us are depending on the strangers that deliver food to our local stores, or provide media programming, or keep our intewebs working.  Chances are we don't actually know any of these folks.  But we're a community and so appreciate that they are working and risking to support us.   Normally we only see that in the police, firefighters and nurses, doctors and teachers, and don't imagine that your role or my role in society actually contributes, but it does.

Keep in mind, that in December or January or even February this year depending on where you live, these are the same strangers we cut off in traffic, or argued at online, or made disparaging comments about due to wage discussions, and the way their situations may have affected our own view of how the word treated us, treated me. "Why should teachers get paid so much...when I don't....they should all be fired."  We were pretty set in our ways, and the moves present in lots of places to elect divisive leadership that focused and leveraged our dissatisfaction with other groups and their perceived successes and ability to affect our lives, these reflected that.  Even today, conspiracy theories abound that the virus is being supported or 'done to us' in some nefarious plan.  Sigh.

Humans are social beings.  We look for inter-connections with others and have constructed our societies in this way.  In six to twelve months when the virus thing has shaken out,  it's my hope that we'll look at our connections to one another as the key, as our saving grace, and appreciate each other more.  If the virus kills off me-centricity, then that's one victim I won't mourn.