It is no news that we are currently in the midst of a “storm” that has changed our lives beyond recognition.
Millions of people are fighting for their lives, struggling at home, in intensive care units, separated from their loved ones in their hours of need. Billions are in lockdown, unable to visit one another, or go to work, or attend school.
The virus has hit hard not just at our bodies and minds, but at our most instinctive desire of being close to our family and friends, to express and receive love and care in the face of this existential threat – for even that could bring illness and death. We have, as humanity, never been so vulnerable like we are now (I may be suffering from recency bias here, but that is the way it is).
The virus has done one more thing – make us confront the true uncertainty of our existence.
How often have we believed that we are masters of the world around us (well, the virus that has brought us down is just 60-140 nanometer in diameter)? How often have we ignored our vulnerability by pretending that we are in control of our destinies? How often have we wasted our lives in the never-ending battles for power, status, and wealth?
Despite the devastation it has brought with itself, Covid has also given us a great opportunity to re-learn and teach our kids that we, the supreme species that walks this planet, are highly vulnerable in the face of uncertainty. Also, we control much-much less than we think, and that calls for the need to be humbler and kinder towards others and to recognize the value in people around us – not just family and friends, but also complete strangers.
