Lessons During The Lock Down

It’s the new world order…2020, a pandemic has touched the world. A virus that has brought rules, restrictions, standards, and through it all added fears. If we as people have ever wondered about our government, our jobs, our community, our neighbors, or our family this pandemic has our attention. In our living, there are many lessons. My grandmother would often say when questioned about things I didn’t understand…”Just live long enough, live a little, you’ll understand in time”. I’m still learning.

Our lives have changed and may never get back to the way we lived prior to COVID-19. There is no way that we, as a people, worldwide could have ever prepared for this. As the numbers rise in deaths, unemployment, support, and equipment, we have a need for common sense and basic principles. Through this pandemic, there is a need for change and without it, we will continue to be in pandemonium.

Often when one takes the time to reflect, they are alone, silenced, and able to focus and concentrate on the situation or themselves. This is a time of reflection. Our norms have been halted. What we have neglected has been brought to the forefront. Family, health, wealth, and self has been disrupted and in some cases removed totally. It has brought attention to the needs in those categories as well as what was overlooked or neglected. The lessons are being taught. It’s no longer a subliminal message, it’s in our faces. It’s on the news, posted on social media sites, posted on signs… there are now songs, video, comics, and infomercials. No race, age, sex, religion, or social status has been left out… it’s worldwide. It has affected all…but what is the effect?

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“we have a need for common sense and basic principles….””

What will we be left with, how will we move on, what have we learned? There are lessons within this crisis. Have we learned? Common sense and basic principles, ignorance is bliss and always will be, some never learn, these terms hold many truths and without change, our errors will be repeated. If we reflect, charge ourselves with the errors, and then make the changes, the lessons will make a difference in our living…in the world. The messages continue to save ourselves and others.

The quarantine has brought attention to our living and working. How we interact, the amount of time we spend with or around family, friends, co-workers, or associates matters. Being restricted we have to be conscious of our interactions with others. We now value those interactions. There are some who have been so unattached that this enforced connection has awakened what may have been lost. We miss visits, calls, and no longer regret caring for our elders. We’re learning that our homes are more than a place to lay our heads. They’ve become our office, the children’s educational platform, a place for recreation and togetherness. We’ve learned new crafts, recipes, and projects. Our relationships with friends and family matter. Learning to listen, to talk, to share, and care within the place we call home has added value to our lives. We have missed the ability to have family and friends in our circle. This has given us a new wave of awareness.

Employment has changed and those who have never been unemployed, those who have never had to seek government benefits understand the value of having a job and those benefits. The inability to pay for necessities, to be free to purchase what we need and the inability to live knowing you have a home to live in has brought on a new wave of consciousness.

“…We’re learning that our homes are more than a place to lay our heads. They’ve become our office, the children’s educational platform, a place for recreation and togetherness….”

Our health concerns have been altered. Worrying about diseases known, getting the medicine, having a cure was a normal fix. You manage your condition, you visit a doctor and you take precautions…but when the condition is unknown, without a cure, baffling the medical experts…there’s new fears, anxiety, and confusion. When you can’t visit the doctor’s office, the ER when needed, or visit a sick loved one…tt wears on us mentally and emotionally. Depression and suicide become a concern, alcoholism, domestic violence, and crime become concerns. Death tolls and hospital numbers climb as burial grounds and mortuaries can no longer handle the needs of the families that mourn. There’s a new wave of spirituality.

Lessons, have we learned? If not now, when? When will we understand and appreciate our relationships? When will we respect all without prejudice? When will we appreciate life, ours, and the life of others?

We can’t continue to live for convenience. We have to live knowing that we increase others as they increase us. The teacher, butcher, secretary, doctor, nurse…all have value and we have to value them. Our jobs, increase us and we increase our employers and the needs of those who use our products. Our awareness and consciousness are heightened but we must understand that it is our awareness and consciousness of our spirit that needs a kick. We can’t continue to treat the world, those around us, and our lives as if it is just a matter of convenience.

“…Death tolls and hospital numbers climb as burial grounds and mortuaries can no longer handle the needs of the families that mourn. There’s a new wave of spirituality…..”

We’ve all connected to our spirituality during this time. A prayer, a heartfelt emotional connection with self or someone who has lost a loved one or friend, words of comfort… we’ve shared them. That concern, that sharing is spiritual. It doesn’t matter what faith or lack of faith that you have, your spirit speaks when you have an emotional connection. We’ve all connected to someone or something during this time. We need to awaken that emotion, that spirit, and hold on to our belief that this too will pass. We will be better for learning, but we have to reflect and make the changes within our lives. We have to connect with others and share our feelings. We must be open to changing bad habits, changing the unnecessary so we may grow from this awakening and become better.

In simple terms…we tell our children “timeout”, the incarcerated or convicted go to jail, being put on “suspension” from our employment… a lockdown. It gives one time to reflect, to assess, to redirect… COVID-19 a time to learn and change. There will be a change, our norms will never be the same… lesson learned.