Covid’s Silver Linings

Moving into our fourth month of the COVID calamity, we are all adjusting as best as we can to this current reality. It has not been easy and continues to uproot us from all that was previously known as ‘normal’. Some interesting other observations that I have made over the last several weeks:

• people never seen before in the neighbourhood, out for daily walks
• so many children, running, yelling, laughing, playing outdoors with balls, skipping ropes, on bicycles, skateboards, inline skates, trampolines, in backyard tents
• impromptu singing with or without musical instruments out on the street and in backyards
• spontaneous gatherings of neighbours (10 max!) in housing project courtyards, home driveways, backyards, even in garages transformed into living rooms
• cyclists enjoying the safety and freedom from cars on the roads
• nature breathing a sigh of relief from air, water and land pollution
  the sudden realization that EVERY job has value and people showing appreciation for workers everywhere
• people connecting with each other more than ever before and discovering shared interests
• more people gardening than ever before
• people discovering the joy of baking their own bread and the pleasure of other baking and cooking
• people reading more than ever
• people learning all kinds of new skills in different areas
  more kindnesses freely shared among family, neighbours and strangers
• people taking the time to reflect on what really matters
• people realizing that maybe we don’t need a lot of the ‘stuff’ and ‘practices’ to which we had become accustomed

Maybe this is an opportunity to rethink how we’ve been ‘doing things’.