10 Discoveries Made In The Time of Covid-19
As the numbers seem to be improving in Ontario and with many getting their second jabs, it’s hard not to believe that this pandemic is slowly coming to an end and we can finally resume with some normalcy in our lives. Feeling like the year of hell is beyond us, I reflected back and tried to find the lessons in all this. For every challenge we face, there is a lesson and 2020 was no different. Here is a list of discoveries that I made during the pandemic
Our society is a lot more community oriented than I thought. Though a lot of emphasis is placed on autonomy in our culture, I witnessed how community conscious we actually are. Face masks are not the most comfortable accessory and yet, by choosing to wear one meant that we are taking responsibility for the health of others. Wearing a mask does more to protect others than to protect yourself. We as a community also saw Senior Hours pop up in grocery stores and pharmacies in order to accommodate vulnerable members of our community and understood the importance of protecting them. We were also respectful of healthy guidelines and we proudly worked together to “flatten the curve” by doing our part at the start of this all. With the introduction of vaccines, even with so much hesitation due to mixed messages in the media, our community was still willing to take their vaccine because it meant that they were safe, thereby ensuring the safety of others and collectively working together to get back to our normal lives. People dedicated hours to stand in cold, long line ups with the intention of doing their part. My neighbour Tony said it best, “if you’re not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem”.
Hope and defeat comes in waves. Back in December 2020, when vaccines were finally becoming a reality, there was a sense of hope that was present. It felt like we were finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The light stayed until there was news of variants and we saw our numbers climbing again. As the numbers got worse and there were more talks about variants and extending our shut downs, I distinctly remember driving into work one day feeling defeated; feeling as if we will never get back to “normal”. However, that changed again when vaccines were becoming readily available and people were jumping at the chance of getting their jab. I’m happy that in these waves of hope and defeat, defeat is short-lived, which I think says a lot about human resiliency.
There’s always a way to make the best out of a shitty situation. Even though life took a pause, it didn’t mean fun had to take a pause as well. We became creative in the way that we celebrated and spent time with our friends. I enjoyed many virtual wine nights, a few virtual movie nights, shared dinners over Zoom, drive by birthday parties, virtual weddings, and even virtual escape rooms. Some favourites that my clients have shared included cocktail nights where friends were encouraged to make the same cocktails from home, virtual dance classes and yoga sessions, virtual baby showers and virtual cooking classes with friends. Since we were missing going to the theatres, we tried our hand at drive-in movies. I loved that we found creative ways to still stay engaged while respecting safety.
Forcing ourselves to commit to small social groups allowed us to see who is important in our lives. Restrictions around maintaining your social bubble forced us to realize who matters in our life. We learned that it’s not the quantity but the quality of those who make up our social group.
Character is tested during stressful times. I got to say, I saw a lot of ugly during the pandemic. As much as I was trying to focus on the positivity that I witnessed in this pandemic, I also saw a lot of selfishness and pride. People hoarding toilet paper, just because everyone else was doing it, vultures buying cleaning supplies only to sell them for a profit, those who openly defied rules just to capture it on video to show that they’re above it all, were all obvious signs of unattractive qualities that existed in people that you may have not noticed if not for the pandemic.
We need to redefine what entails essential services. Up until the pandemic, my most basic (and wrong) definition was that essential services included medical professionals and first responders. I didn’t realize that that definition needed a second look. Now, I see the importance of those who work and maintain grocery stores. I recognize how valuable truck drivers, transit workers, custodial staff, and factory workers are within our community. Without them, how else do we as a society function at a basic level ?
My privilege. This pandemic had me checking myself many times. I know that, initially, I was definitely complaining about how much of an inconvenience this pandemic is for my life plans and what I had expected for the year. However, if that was the only thing that this pandemic ruined for me, then I should count my blessings because it could have been way worse. If my complaint was that I could no longer spend a night out or plan vacation for the year, then I’ve got too much privilege and I need to take several seats. I also acknowledged privileges that I took for granted. Internet, for example. I didn’t have to wait in long lines at the grocery store because it was as simple as clicking and collecting my groceries. It didn’t bother me that non-essential items were not available to me at the store because I could just order it online. I realized that simply having access to Internet, something that we think is so basic, is actually a luxury.
How stressful the commute to work actually is. For those who had the chance to work from home, did you all notice how less stressed you were with the fact that you didn’t have to commute to and from work everyday? I realized how much of an energy suck commuting is. It’s the traffic, getting to your bus on time, standing in a crowd of people, rushing to your destination… oh my, I’m happy that I didn’t have that stressor this past year.
We thrive on routine and predictability. Routine was one of the first things to go when quarantine started. There’s no room for routine when we were playing each day by ear. However, staying off routine turned out to haunt us later as I started to notice stress and anxiety increase in our lives. I had to remind my clients about the importance of having structure and predictability in your day and although it was great in the short term, that wasn’t the case moving forward. Incorporating some predictability (set meal times, set bedtime, morning routine etc.) has been beneficial to my clients and helped them feel productive in their day.
We’re better at DIY projects than we thought. Panic ensued when I realized that I could not get my eyebrows done regularly (See point 7). I thought I was going to get through this pandemic looking like a tree monster and I had no idea what to do about it. YouTube became my teacher and I realized that many of the things that I thought I couldn’t get done myself, I could. We saw an uptick in the number of hobbies that were developed and skills that were learned. I saw people learning how to do their nails, re-tile their bathroom floors, dive into photography, pick up an instrument, learn to bake bread (remember that trend?), and literally anything else. It shows that if we’re able to learn and do the work, you can truly accomplish what you set your mind to.
Did I miss anything? Let me know what you learned during this (and hopefully your last) pandemic.