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Show Claire Shepherd Due April 22, 2020 LEAP 1140 Living Through the Pandemic: Life is Crazy, Love Freely In my life, I have developed a simple three-word mantra: life is crazy. Since I was a child, I have been a very independent person who loves structure and schedule. While in my ideal world I am always able to plan most aspects of my life, I have come to realize that this autonomy and stability is not always possible. Weather changes, money shifts, plans are canceled… in three words: life is crazy. It seems as though these words have been leaving my mouth so often in the past two months. Since I packed up all my possessions into a little Subaru and made the trip across the desert from the Salt Lake Valley to my hometown in Colorado, everything in my life has been upended. I'm no longer living in a campus community with all my friends, I can't experience classes in person with my peers, I can't recreate outside with the freedoms I am accustomed to, even going to the grocery store is an uncomfortable experience. Looking around me, everything has changed: the roads are empty, the smiles of my neighbors are hidden by masks, the economy is collapsing, and in many areas, our healthcare system is held together by threads. Life is crazy. Our structures of education, economics, politics, and health care are so precariously balanced that a little unseen enemy originating across the globe can topple our "normal" in weeks. I, along with many people around the world, feel afraid. I am afraid for the old, I am afraid for the immunocompromised, I am afraid for the poor, I am afraid for those who cannot socially isolate, I am afraid for our health providers. I am afraid for my grandparents, for my father, for myself. This fear is also combined with a sense of helplessness as I am encouraged to stay home and away from others. Yet this fear and uncertainty surrounding the situation gives us a chance to consider what we can do to help. In the words of Albert Camus, "what's true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves" (Camus 115). There will always be suffering and strife in this world, yet the suffering is a chance to show our solidarity and virtue. While reading the news and observing my community, I have seen a lot of examples of how we can come together to help one another, even while practicing social distancing. It is heartwarming to see everyone at the store wearing their home-sewn masks because it shows how many people are willing to work together to limit the spread of an unseen enemy. It is wonderful how many people have come together to express gratitude and give support to our health care providers on the frontlines. It is amazing to see how we have adapted to still find social connection with friends and family from our homes using things like Zoom or Facetime. `A crisis, like the novel coronavirus, can bring out the good in all of us, and prove that "there are more things to admire in men than to despise" (Camus 278). While there have been some negative displays surrounding the coronavirus (such as anti-asian racial sentiments or recent marches for economic reopening that have disregarded social distancing measures), in total, I have witnessed more admirable displays of human kindness and compassion in response to the virus. This situation also very clearly highlights the limits of my control: I can't decide when the vaccine may be available, I have no power to reopen schools, I cannot restock the shelves with toilet paper, I don't have power over the economy, and I have no say in when the government will lift the stay at home order. But this lack of overarching control can be a reminder to focus on what I can control in my life. Most importantly, controlling how I love myself and love others. Suddenly being disconnected from my close friends and relationships in Salt Lake, as well as being socially isolated from friends and extended family at home, I am reminded of how quickly things can be taken away. Every day, a simple accident or poor timing can take away someone you love; as Margaret Renki said in her New York Times opinion article, "we have always been mortal beings" (Renki). But the shock and stress of the novel coronavirus has put this sense of mortality at the forefront of everyone's minds. Suddenly we are reminded to love each day as though we may not have the chance to express that love tomorrow. This sharing of compassion is especially important as our mortality faces us dead on during a crisis: as Camus said, "a loveless world is a dead world" (Camus 236). Even though we are in a frightening situation that we have little control over, it is important to focus on using our compassion to maintain a sense of community and normalcy. By sharing compassion into communities and people that are experiencing stress and sadness, we can prevent the world from becoming a "loveless" or "dead" place. This experience is changing my mantra I have been saying for years. I now find myself thinking, over and over again, a simple 5 words: life is crazy, love freely. This virus will change my future: it has impacted my college learning experience, it has caused a setback in the Peace Corps (a group that I hope to work with following my undergraduate experience), and it will likely cause profound changes in the healthcare field that I plan to work in. After we step out into the world again, there will be a new normal. But it is up to me to do the best I can with this change. I want to use the minimal control I have in this crisis to focus on the ways this experience can have a positive impact on my future. I have the time to develop my hobbies, I have had a lot more time with my family than ever before, I am continuing to develop deep social connections and relationships. But greatest, this virus will hopefully allow me to remember that love is the way through any crisis. So as I go forward, this pandemic has reminded me of something I've always known: love freely, love deeply, love often. The only time to do so is now. Works Cited: Camus, Albert and Stuart Gilbert. The Plague. New York Modern Library, 1948. Renki, Margaret. "The Clarity That Comes With Hard Times." New York Times, 13 April 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/covid-gratitude.html. Accessed 23 April 2020. |
