Thoughts about change and COVID-19.

 

Something I have decided, and have not really shared with anyone, but have started living my life in this way, and that is, to think that calling this our new normal is the pragmatic thing to do.  We do not know if, when and how this will end.  We do not know what  things will look like on the other end.  We do know we will never go back 100% to the way things were before.  We initially kidded ourselves, with the help from some national leadership, to believe this would be resolved by this summer.  And it has not.  So when I cannot change things around me, sometimes I have to decide whether to change my outlook and expectations.  This may not work for everybody, especially someone who is idealistic. But sometimes an idealistic person understands how important it is to adjust and adapt.

 

I liken this to being in a war.  Too long ago for my lifetime, but we hear about the sacrifices and contributions the American people were asked to make during World War II:  rationing, recycling, women working in jobs that were formerly felt unfit women, including manufacturing, farming, and other businesses.  And, it opened up some integration prospects previously unthought of.   Well, although people tried to put the genie back in the bottle, women and minorities slowly expanded their roles after the war, often, with a very tough fight.

 

We are now engaged in a multi-front war:  The war against COVID-19.  The war against natural disasters, that are more difficult to deal with because of COVID -19 (wild fires, heat waves, hurricanes, etc.)  The war against social injustice and racism.  This always gets worse when the people on the bottom of the social ladder see possibilities of improvement, and then those possibilities are snatched away. (A black, inclusive president is replaced by an anglo, divisive president.)  When I was in college we learned about it as the Revolution of Rising Expectations.  This article https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/revolution-rising-expectations indicates it may not be that simple, but it plays a part.  

 

The idea is, we have to change with the change. And the way we change influences the way the change impacts our world.  The actual quote from Mahatma Gandhi is:  “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body.  If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.  As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.  This is the divine mystery supreme.  A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”  This has been shortened to “be the change you want to be”

 

The societal changes give each of us the opportunity to decide how we will go forward from here.  It is a major burden. Do I have an answer?  No.

 

So, forgive my ramble.  Thank you for letting me ramble. Sometimes, I just need to get it off my chest.  And I ask for answers.