Peering into the Pandemic

 I've been taking a break these past few days, trying to clear some outstanding errands. Life requires maintenance and you have to schedule time for it. Work is easing too as the year ends because everyone else is taking leave. 

It is also time to reflect back on the year that passed. Despite the fact that the pandemic has impacted most of our lives negatively, I'd like to look at some of the positives that have come out of it.

The first good thing that the pandemic has done is that it has made everyone more hygiene-conscious. At no time in history has the human-race been driven to such concern towards cleanliness--being aware of everything we touch and washing our hands all the time. All food vendors have also been forced to raise their hygiene standards or risk being fined. It has been so much more pleasant to eat in restaurants that are far less crowded and where tables are cleared and cleaned more thoroughly.

There have been a lot less traffic on the road. This has contributed to better air-quality and less time wasted looking for parking or getting trapped in a traffic-jam. It has given us a glimpse of what the city can and should be--being car-free. 

The proliferation of cars is one of the things that make life less and less livable in the city. I look forward to the day when most people would order a driver-less vehicle to take them anywhere instead of taking the wheel themselves. I've often equated cars in the city to supermarket trolleys--why should anyone own one at all?

But I think the most important lesson that the pandemic taught us is this: we can make do with a lot less. So many of us have had our income reduced or decimated completely and yet most of us are still surviving. Yes, we cannot afford the little luxuries that we used to indulge in, but it's not the end of the world.  Staying at home and making do with a simple home-cooked meal is not something intolerable.  Not going to the mall for shopping unnecessarily actually helps us to save money. 

We learned to deal with boredom and restlessness. We find time to better ourselves and many of us picked up new skills--some out of necessity because they have lost their permanent jobs. Even though the pandemic imprisoned us in our homes, it has also yanked us out of our comfort zones. 

For many of us, it wasn't only our physical survival that had been threatened but the more challenging mental one. Mental health issues have certainly been brought to the forefront by the pandemic. A person's mental well-being is certain as important as his physical one. 

Mental strength and stability is something we need to consciously cultivate. More often than not, we find distractions to avoid deeper mental issues. People who meditate know how these deeper issues surface themselves during those quiet moments of contemplation and our task is allow them to find resolution. Burying them deep into the recesses of the mind will only make them pathological. 

The pandemic has forced us to look into ourselves. Some see an abyss staring back at them; other's see a glimmer light at the end of the tunnel.