The longer I delay in posting this, the more there is to write about. Month over month the world is giving us news, tragedies and so much more to take in. I’ve started writing this article months ago, hoping by today the world would be a different kind of better. I guess it takes time, we’re working on it. And here it goes:
The over-scheduled day to days, rushed drop off’s and pick ups. Early mornings with forced wake ups, feet dragging out the door to make it on time. The same old structured routine, fixed lunches every day, year after year. Until 2020 hit…
If there was anything to stop the world and let us see it for what it really is, it is Covid. Our robotic routine was too regulated for us to get out of. There was no reason to leave it, no reason for change. Except Mother Nature’s cry for help. When everything halted we were able to breath again. Catch a break. Catch up mentally. Many people found a mental break, some rest time; And Mother Nature caught her breath. She’s watched the dinosaurs roam the lands and it must have been so hard for her see tiny humans cause more damage to the world than those ancient, gigantic beasts. Beached whales found with tons of plastic in their corpses, little sea creatures deformed because their bodies had to outgrow the plastic straw they were born into. Ironically enough Covid cleared the skies of China which have not been seen in years. All the smog and pollution halted. Humans evolved at such a rapid, selfish rate we took advantage of the beautiful free things we were surrounded with. We were taught back in school our basic needs included food, clothing and shelter. Have you asked a child of todays generation what the basic needs are? When did all this change? When every child needed an iPad? Or every kid needed a smartphone? When our parents were more addicted to screens than us? Some people think it’s all a conspiracy, but if a conspiracy can do all this then it’s not the worst thing to have happened. And Covid didn’t just stop everything, it changed everything. Our future is changed and it may be for the better. Many are waiting for the new normal, but we’ve already entered that. We’re just in the adapting stage. We’re only 6 months into the year, the next 6 months will be very interesting. 2020 is being hated on, but let’s learn what it is willing to teach us.
The homes we spend so much money to own but spend so little time in were finally forced to be used. And that’s when Covid made my house a home. The forced family time where my kids were able to sleep in, grow, and have nothing scheduled. Where they were forced to use their imagination. Where the unlimited downtime taught me new things about my children I would have never learned before. We learned to trust and rely on the surroundings around us and strengthen our families. You could knock on a neighbors door for anything cause you knew they were home, as opposed to scheduling half hour of play 2 months in advance cause your calendar was so ‘full’. Big extravagant Birthday parties were celebrated with a simple zoom call and a homemade cake. We were born into our birthday suits, and I never knew when we needed so much more. The world has humbled down and we need to take it for what it is. The world minimalist is trending again, finally. Things have changed. Back to school shopping lists have changed immensely. And working from home really is an option. We’ve learned you do not need a fancy wardrobe to sit in a class and learn, or to attend a zoom call. That’s if we all go back to classes anyway. Society has left so much open ended decisions for us to make and that’s not a bad thing. No more expectation and robotic routines. Flexible schedules that actually work for us. It has taught us to be kind to one another, because we’ve finally learned we’re in this together. The world is a big classroom and we can only learn from one another. From experiences. From our surroundings. We are the teachers and we are the students. Decisions will vary from individual to individual, household to household. And the best thing we can do is respect the decisions being made. We are fortunate enough to have our homes. But we HAVE our homes. And with our own two hands we can build anything. We are making history, and imagine how the curriculum will change and how it will look when we educate our kids about 2020. And what do we even call this piece of history? The deadly pandemic? 2020 Year of Horror? Or How Covid Made my House a Home? The New World? It is up to us to handle this the best way we know how. Am I an expert in pandemics? Ha far from. But it’s how you handle things that define the person you are. We do not need to have it all figured out, but we’ve been gifted time. And with that we can do anything.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
-Rumi
