When the tables are suddenly turned
In our efforts to decrease the spread of corona we are experiencing a global slow down. Within the course of a few months the world has turned upside down. Almost from one day to another our lives has flipped from fast to slow. From busy, stressed, aggressive, hurried, superficial, impatient, and quantitative to calm, still, receptive, contemplative, patient and qualitative.
As our usual mode of being ever busy is starting to fade, along comes space to reconsider what is truly good for us and what is not. The pace in which our lives were going left little room to reflect on where we were heading and even less if we were heading in the right direction. By the time alarm bells like hypertension, cardiac disease, obesity, diabetes, insomnia, anxiety, migraine, burnout, depression, etc. were ringing, we were already in it too deep. There was no way out since all the balls needed to stay up in the air. As we were juggling jobs, family, friends, hobbies, travel plans and dinner parties, it often felt as if our lives were leading us instead of the other way around. Being busy often felt like a choking hand around our neck.
Maybe we were going too fast?
In our advanced capitalist societies, the common ideology is a set of values based in self-interest and interaction styles guided by competition, a main focus on financial success, high levels of consumption, and overall importance of economic growth. Frequently enough research shows consequences of a system that is going too fast, impacting domains like intimacy, family life and employment. Climate change teaches us that extreme wealth is generated at the cost of our environment and we seem to be unable to carry the burden of the rapid speed of development.
And now all of a sudden it comes almost to a stand still. Due to a virus that is spreading so fast exactly because of urbanization, overpopulation and fast-paced living. Now we have some time to reconsider how we relate to each other and to the outside world. Before corona we were often reserved towards strangers and sometimes flat out ignoring them by hiding behind our phones and plugging our ears shut. We used to move through public spaces with our heads down and without a smile. Interactions with people we did know were often hasty and superficial, without any real interest. There was always so little time and so much to do.
The time away from others is teaching us that meeting people is not something to take for granted. And it is starting to show. I see neighbors talking in the garden and really engage in conversation. I see families caring for each other's well-being again. When it was high time for me to do some grocery shopping, the cashier in the supermarket started to talk and ask questions. In the middle of a pandemic she raised her head and searched for eye contact. This is certainly not what I am used to.
In a recent article about fear of contracting COVID-19, the author raised the possibility that we might lose trust in people even after we will be safe from the virus. Is it really people we will stop trusting? Or will the feeling of distrust come from having to step back into a system that is clearly broken and has been failing us for a long time?
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