Epidemics show us who we really are
This morning I was listening to this interview. The phrase that jumped out at me was “Epidemics hold a mirror to the civilization where they occur.” And I’d add to that, a mirror to ourselves.
COVID-19 is showing us not only our xenophobic tendencies (e.g., the travel bans which attempt to blame the virus on “foreigners”) …but more fundamentally, our deep human desire for control over something that can’t be controlled.
The reason so many of us are compulsively reading the news is that we believe that by “knowing” what’s happening, we’ll somehow have an edge in fending off the Coronavirus. By reading one more news article (when we’ve already read 50) our lizard brain feels it will somehow help us get a leg up in staying safe. But that’s simply the mind’s way of trying to exercise power in a situation where it feels powerless.
The root of what we’re being asked to face is our fear of uncertainty… of change… and the big one — of death.
Yes, COVID-19 is a pandemic, and people will die. And yes, it’s important to be responsible and do things that are in our individual / collective best interest (e.g., wash our hands, do our part to help flatten the curve). But what needs to die in all of us collectively is the sense that we can decisively CONTROL the world around us.
Yes, that control is what led to the enormous technological advances we’ve seen in the Industrial Age. But we’ve lived to the extremes of its benefit. And it’s what’s led to the imbalances we’ve seen in the environment and climate.
What the virus (literally a force of nature) is forcing us to do collectively is to learn to OPEN to life’s possibilities…
…instead of being rigidly confined by fear / anxiety, our beliefs in how things have always been or our ideas about how things SHOULD be. (This is conscious surrender, NOT slavish submission.)
Our old ideas / patterns are being asked to die so that possibilities far greater than we could have ever imagined can be born.
An example of what I’m seeing that could be born out of this pandemic is a collective turn towards COMMUNITY. Loneliness is the quiet pandemic that’s been facing the US for quite some time now. And the hidden gift of this virus is that we have a chance to COLLECTIVELY turn toward each other to address not just this health crisis, but the underlying social rot that COVID-19 is holding a mirror to.
The other opportunity I’m seeing in this pandemic is the opportunity to SLOW DOWN and focus on what brings us JOY & PLEASURE. A lot of us, now that we’re working from home and don’t have to commute will have a lot more time on our hands… and so the Q is: what will we do with the gift of the time? Are we going to use the extra time mindlessly scrolling on Facebook, or will we use it to turn toward the things that bring us genuine joy (but that we never seemed to have the time for)?
And what’s unique about this pandemic is that it’s a SHARED GLOBAL EXPERIENCE. This may be the first time in all of human history we’re all facing the same challenge. We’re all collectively in a place where no one knows what will happen… but with possibilities for change on a global scale.
So 2 q’s for you:
1. What mirror is this epidemic holding up for you?
2. What possibilities are you seeing that could potentially be born out of this crisis?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!