Today is the first day of a new month and as I was walking outside I saw snowdrops in the icy fields and listened to the birds as they sang about springtime. Being away from my family over Christmas and New Year and not being able to go out can get depressing but every day as I walk outside I’m reminded that the world is still turning.
We humans tend to think that life revolves around us when in essence we are just a part of the circle of life. We are born, we live, we procreate and we die, just like all the other creatures on this earth and I find that quite comforting. Everything in life is connected and nothing can sustain on its own. The trees use sunlight to produce oxygen that other creatures breathe, the fox eats the hare, and the beetles, termites, ants and other tiny creatures turn the remains into food for the tree. The moon governs the tides of the oceans, birds spread the seeds of the trees so they can grow into new trees and the bees pollinate the flowers so we have food to eat and honey to flavour our tea.
Just like all of life is connected so are we as human beings, we feel the need to call someone and find out that they were thinking of us or needed our help with something. We can sense the energy in a room when we walk in after an argument or a good laugh. And in this pandemic there is nothing I feel that hasn’t been felt before or is currently being felt by someone else. It strengthens me that I’m not alone in this, I might not know my neighbour but I can relate to their sadness, their fear and their hope for a brighter future.
In the end it really doesn’t matter what we believe to be the truth in this lockdown, we are being asked to come together as human beings and to support each other regardless of our personal beliefs and stance. This whole year has been an exercise in humanness and an invitation to look after each other and realise that we are all unique and different but also very much the same. We all dream of a world were we can be financially secure, physically safe and able to realise our potential.
We all need to hug with those we love and belly laugh with our friends and colleagues after a good joke, we want to share food and feel like we are contributing to the lives of others. The moment we realise this we give true meaning to this pandemic and maybe then there is some good that can come out of the spread of this virus.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Charles Eames: “Eventually everything connects–people, ideas, objects. . .the quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”
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