COVID…you have been our perfect teacher.
You taught us almost everything we needed to know about ourselves and others. You robbed us of loved ones; of valuable time we could have spent with family and friends, of the limits of our own mental health and how much we need each other.
You have shown us the face of heroes; those who gave their lives in hospital rooms; the doctors, nurses and attendants who knew the risks and did the job anyway. They worked there, in pharmacies, shelters, grocery stores and volunteer agencies – those who refused to let anyone fall through the cracks even if it meant putting themselves at risk. They volunteered to try experimental drugs even though they could have serious repercussions.
You showed us the crème de la crème of the human species.
Because of you, we witnessed the kindness of everyday people who donned masks knowing that one of the main purposes was to protect others. Sadly, you also showed us those who refused to wear them more concerned about their individual rights than how their behavior could affect others.
Similarly, we noticed people who stepped up immediately to be vaccinated knowing that by getting the shot they could reduce the risk of being carriers thereby infecting someone else. COVID-19, you showed us our best.
And of course, there are still those who defend their right to not be vaccinated even if that might negatively impact others – it didn’t matter to them. Their rights were more important. Now with the fourth wave ripping through many parts of the world, including Canada and possibly the NWT, we can see how doing the right thing for others is in the end, a form of helping ourselves.
COVID – you showed us that nature can and will fight back. Thanks to you, we saw her limits and know clearly there are consequences when we push past them. We now know too that nature has her own weaponry which she will use if we force her hand. COVID, you are one example of that along with the fires, droughts, floods, and other extraordinary acts of weather created by human activity. Indeed, Mother Nature is a patient and loving caretaker but has a voice and will use it. The human species, the only one which destroys its own home, caused this pandemic just as we are causing this climate change event that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel says will change the planet forever. Some coastal cities swept away by rising waters will never reappear along with insect and animals species decimated by this year’s wildfires. We did this.
Big business is slow to cooperate and governments are equally slow to hold them and us accountable despite the fact that the U.N. Secretary General, António Guterres, called the report a “code red for humanity.”
We have become ostriches with our heads buried and stuck in the sand in a world that has become too complex for us to understand. Yet we created it.
Clearly, amid all the chaos, the human species is not as smart as it thinks it is or don’t even understand what true intelligence means. Though some of the brightest among us developed a vaccine almost overnight; COVID-19 continues to mutate causing wave after wave of new infections. We know that it is here to stay and like climate change itself, we can only mitigate the damages. We can create machines to go to the moon but we cannot create a vaccine to that will stop this pandemic for good.
However, we don’t have to be geniuses to change our ways. We simply have to live within the means that nature asks. We can respect her plants and animals, recycle what we create, drive less and appreciate the beauty of our mother earth more. Within that circle, there is a sustainable life where we can cap the growing carnage of the last few decades.
Small shifts will produce great change but we have to do that.
In a strange sort of way, COVID, you taught us more about ourselves and our character than any book and you showed us the importance of peaceful coexistence within a natural order. You taught us the importance of characteristics such as consideration and compassion and that how we treat each other and all other life forms around us will, in the end, determine whether we survive at all.
Wow COVID, for better or for worse, what a great teacher you have been.
