If you look at the date this is published you’ll notice that the month of April hasn’t even finished yet. At the time of writing, we’re only 18 days into the month but it feels like a lot more! That fact that we are restricted in our everyday life has not helped but it’s also from the emotions and the media surrounded by the state of the world today.
I’ve decided to write this post mostly for myself to be honest. Writing is my way to get all these thoughts out of my head, a way of processing things. There’s been a lot going on in the world especially in the last month . I feel like I’ve learned a lot about society or at least realized a few things and I’ve learned a lot about myself.
At the beginning stages of hearing about a pandemic, and seeing news articles I think a lot of us were quick to say that the media was blowing things out of proportion. We just have to wash our hands. Only old people die. Only immunocompromised will get sick. The flu kills more people a year and so on. I know at the beginning I thought all of that too.
I mean the media does such a good job at blowing things out of proportion. Why was I all of sudden going to start believing what they had to say now.
I was pretty quick to tell my brother, oh mom’s just acting out of fear when she’s telling us to perhaps ‘get just a few extra things from the grocery store each shop’ (don’t worry she’s not a toilet paper hoarder). I smiled and nodded when she said please just stay at home, don’t go anywhere if you don’t absolutely have to (this was a bit before we were encouraged to do so in NZ) thinking yup, ok mom, but not really thinking much of it.
And next minute, here we are in New Zealand, there she is in Canada doing just that.
Things I learned:
1. ALWAYS listen to your mother.
Mom was getting concerned because she was chatting to my uncle. My uncle is a virologist and on the provincial medical board in Canada advising on the situation. She was getting her information from someone who studies viruses for a living. I think she was getting pretty good advise to not sneeze at this virus… pardon the pun. And we always know, momma’s right.
2. Take what the media says with a grain of salt and choose your sources for information wisely.
This is a really hard one. And it’s really nothing new but what always stands in the way is how do we truly know what source to go to, how do we know better? I’m not entirely sure. They say some of the most credible news sources are places like the New York Times, BBC and the Wall Street Journal. I’m not an expert in that area but I know reading opinion articles from Facebook is not news. Reading just the headlines is no way to gather information. I think consuming articles with facts, quotes and a non-bias slant is a good place to start. I also found this article from Forbes that has been rather helpful.
If felt like in a blink of an eye Italy was loosing half its population. More and more cases were popping up in other countries. Hospitals were being over run and all of a sudden it wasn’t just the elderly dieing and the immune-compromised getting sick.
It felt like in a blink of an eye the entire country of New Zealand was being shut down. Lockdown living. No work, no socializing, no ‘normal’ life. Not for forever. Just for now.
The virus started spreading through New Zealand. Not rampantly but people were still getting sick.
Now I like to keep up to date with what’s going on in regards to this pandemic. Of course, Facebook was flooded with articles of this lockdown and especially at the beginning of the month, I will say my social media consumption was twice what it usually is. What surprised me the most about all of these articles was not only that the comments section was three times as long as the article itself but the comments people were making to each other.
Yes the comments of ‘This is ridiculous, we don’t need to lock down’, ‘This is ridiculous, this should have been done sooner’, ‘I can’t go hiking– this is the worst thing ever’, ‘the government is doing this all wrong’ made me shake my head but not as much as the people in the comments telling each other to ‘shut the f*** up’, ‘you’re f***cking stupid’ etc etc.
I made one comment, once. A girl had said she just wants to be a normal 19 year old again. That she’s soooo bored just being at home. To that, I said, although we may be bored this lockdown is a privilege. We’re lucky to be in the position we are in and it’s not forever. I was hoping she would realize there are bigger issues than being bored. The girl came back and said ‘well no f**cking shit’.
Um ok, I guess that’s how we talked to each other?
Like I said, I made a comment. Once.
And then there were the articles of people blatantly ignoring advice on what not to do during a pandemic. We all remember the kid on spring break in Florida- “If I get coronavirus so be it. It won’t stop me from partying”. And by kid, I mean a grown adult. Tourists coming into New Zealand who refused to self isolate. People congregating on the beaches in Australia, Canada, the US, everywhere! Even political leaders failing to acknowledge that this virus is a pandemic and that it poses a serious threat. Not naming names but he says tremendous A LOT and has an unusually orange face.
New Zealand even has an extra Police phone line and a internet system to dub people in who aren’t following lockdown rules because even as adults, we aren’t able to do what we’re told.
I don’t know what needs to happen for some people to understand to not be so selfish. Not one person is better than this virus. It doesn’t care who you are. It just wants to move from person to person as fast as it can.
Staying at home breaks that movement and saves lives. It has.
Things I’ve learned:
1.You cannot control others and their actions
You really truly cannot. No matter how badly you wish people would just ‘get it’ and no matter how much you wish people would just stay home and respect a global pandemic, all you can do is your part. It doesn’t feel like that’s enough but if you just stay home, get food when you need to, work if you’re essential (taking precautions) than you are contributing to the greater good.
2. Don’t comment. Look away. Don’t engage
I know this seems rather simple but for a person who as her mom says has a strong sense of justice, it takes a lot in me to hold back when I see such ludacris comments floating around. It’s not at all that I want to come back at people to start something. I’ve learned though, this does nothing. Engaging back is just as bad as engaging in the first place. The best thing is to just look away.
3. There is a big difference between needs and wants.
Going out for dinner, shopping at the mall, heading to a sports event, heck even hiking are all wants in life. When the lock down was announced, I was pretty bummed to hear that out of everything I couldn’t go hiking. I mean how much more social distanced can one get right? But it quickly became apparent to me that the hills will still be there and there were bigger fish to fry. People were dying and I was sad I couldn’t hike? Yah nah, I squashed that pretty quickly. I think for a lot of us there is a very clear line between needs and wants especially in such a time like a pandemic. I also think it’s so important to look beyond ourselves. If it means giving something up, in this case for a short time to better someone else, in this case, save lives than so be it! It is a want. We will be okay.
4. Be kind
Snide, rude, sarcastic comments. What does that do. Nothing. It really doesn’t. Well, that’s not true. It just winds people up for more snide, rude and sarcastic comments and to be honest, that is just really shitty. We all have our fair share of that in us. I know I do, and sometimes I have to refrain from going to that place because it’s just not worth.
At the time of writing this, New Zealand is forecasted to come out of lockdown in less than a week. If it does, the country is to go down to an alert level 3 but movement is still highly restricted. Things are nowhere near ‘normal’.
Although I have done my best to filter out what I don’t need to consume on social media, it feels as though some things have jumped out to me in the last few days. And this is really only what New Zealand headlines are saying. I don’t even want to get into what’s happening overseas. The headlines now, lockdown was an overreaction, the government has crashed the economy, our PM is getting sued. The comments, this was a hoax, the government is trying to control us, the hospitals aren’t even overrun, only the elderly are dying, they’re going to die anyway.
Yup, that’s really what people are saying. That’s what people are thinking.
That’s what the media is putting out there.
And to be completely honest, it breaks my heart.
I understand that a countrywide lockdown for some is extremely stressful to say the least. I don’t want to belittle that on any level. Some people have lost their jobs, or their income has been drastically reduced and some have lost businesses that they’ve worked so hard for.
For a lot of us though, lockdown is a privilege. We are lucky to stay home. Lucky to watch Netflix or sit and read a book. Lucky that we don’t have to expose ourselves every day to a virus that lingers out there. Lucky that we have a government willing to help financially.
Now, once the majority of people have done the right thing, sucked it up and stayed at home, and will continue to do so, it’s being questioned that perhaps the lockdown was an overreaction.
** Palm to face ** well, mentally anyways.
Just because hospitals aren’t full, it doesn’t mean we need to fill them.
Just because elderly are ‘going to die anyway’, doesn’t mean they should be taken away too soon.
I don’t know where society gets off thinking that one’s life is more important than another but there are people who do. Why is it ok to sacrifice thousands of lives to open shops again. It’s sad and I don’t get it but I can only hope that one day those people will understand.
Things I’ve learned:
1.There are still a lot of good people in this world
Although I feel like my faith in humanity needs to be restored at times, I have to remember there truly are a lot of good people in this world. I work for a charity, you’d think I’d remember that! The vast majority of people in New Zealand have respected our lockdown. That’s why hospitals aren’t full and overrun. People are handing out food, offering encouragement, having dance parties, reconnecting. There is so much good in this world like 100 year old Captain Tom Moores’ mission to raise money for UK health works. So much good that it brings me to tears and that is what I need to remember.
2. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t-such is life
This I know to be a fact of life and there’s not much we can do about it. In everything, people will criticize, think they know better and flip tunes faster than one can blink. There will always be some people that wants to be at the end of the conflict and there’s not much you can do about it except be kind and move on.
3. You cannot control others and their actions
Still no matter what people will do what they want to do. You can offer help but at the end of the day the only thing you can control are your own actions so make them good.
4.Hardships motivate change
I don’t want to be overdramatic but for me, big life events tend to shake my core. Not in a way that sends me into a panic or anything. Funnily enough, in some ways they bring clarity and they bring me to a place where I think, ‘you know, there are some changes to be made’. There are a lot of things happening in this world that I obviously don’t agree with, things that really get to me. The politics in the United States for example and their lack of support to others during covid, the lack of humility, lack of acknowledgment of climate change, etc etc. I can’t even believe China promotes bear bile for treatment of the covid virus. I could go on and on.
I’ve mentioned many times there are a lot of situations that no matter what, I cannot control another’s actions. We can only do our part. It’s more clear than ever to me that if I want to help this world be a better place or lend a helping hand, I actually have to do it. Not just think it, wish for it, or say it but do it. I may not be able to personally go up against world leaders but I can contribute to movements and organizations that can. I can forgo that coffee each week and donate that money to a non profit. One like Animals Asia that is trying to put an end to bear farming. I can reduce my meat consumption. I can buy locally. I can stay home.
5. Gratitude
The idea of being in lockdown, unable to go about normal life is weird. Like super weird. But there’s no better time than now to realize and remind yourself all of what your grateful for, especially those little things in life. How lucky are we that many of us can go walking in the mountains or jump in a car and go where we please. Most of us have food on our table and a roof over our head. When was the last time we truly sat down and thought holy shit how lucky am I. The circumstances are beyond terrible but I think this time at home, a force to slow down, a break from our normal world is actually good for many of us. I hope everyone truly takes the time to practice gratitude and carries that with them.
Thank you for following along with me as I process through what’s going on in my head. I wanted to share this, not to force any of my opinions on anyone, but what I’m thinking you might be too. Feel free to share your own thoughts, even if it’s just to get them out. The future may be a bit uncertain at the moment but we’ll all get through it together 🙂