We are quite literally separated right now. Most of us are staying at home instead of going out, catching up on shows, movies, or games we have been putting on the backburner for a while. We are stopping ourselves from seeing other people besides those we live with, or the few we have to see like significant others and more.
The thing is: we have been this way for awhile, at least figuratively. For years, we have been separating ourselves from others who are different than us. Not physically – though that does happen, surely – but different in how we think, how we feel, and how we view the world. We have grouped ourselves in our own bubbles where we are surrounded with similar people with similar thoughts who act in similar ways. We felt safe and with that safety, we began to ignore the problems around us.
We grew complacent in how things were, we grew to be comfortable in our “us vs. them” mentality. We stopped caring about other people that didn’t concern us, and we stopped caring about this planet that we live on.
Now, that planet is feeling the effects of our sickness, and we are left with what we have. We are seeing the consequences of our actions, our complacency, our stagnation, and we are seeing that we are lucky that this is as bad as it is.
Imagine if the fatality rate for the coronavirus was higher? It’s sitting around 3% right now, but man, you wouldn’t believe that if you went off how some people are responding to it. If this rate were higher, imagine what the ramifications would be. How much more panic there would be, how much more scared the public would feel, and how much more extreme measures would have to be taken.
The fact of the matter is that we let our guard down and we got lucky that this is what is happening. The deaths that come from this are terrible, and for a lot of people, this situation is detrimental to their livelihood, their income, and their careers. But it is still something we can bounce back from.
We need to take this time not only be better prepared for the next virus that could come up (and yes, we believe that will happen), but also to start building the bridges we need between us, as humans, so that those preparations can happen. We have spent too long looking at each other for what makes us different; it is time to start looking at how we are the same, and how we can all grow from this and create a better place to live.
This virus will pass, we assure you that. It will run its course – maybe a couple of times – but we will make the necessary adjustments to get back to where we were. But once we do that, it is time to keep moving forward. We have to lick our wounds, be thankful for those around us, and progress. Otherwise, what was the point?
We hope you are being safe, being smart, and washing your hands. We hope you are at home, with the people you love, feeling fine, and waiting this out. We also hope you see that this is our moment to change, to advance. This could be the biggest wake-up call yet, and we want everyone to hear it. We are all sharing this planet, we are all humans who feel, think, and get sick, and we are all deserving of rising above the struggles to be the best people we can be.
There is a lyric by the band Thrice, which has rung true for many of us right now: “Finally, when will it be enough, To find there’s no them, there is only us.”
Well, this is enough. This is when we stop thinking of them, and start believing in us. This is the moment we can make the change.
