Personally, I didn’t find a lot positive throughout Covid or lockdown. To hear other people tell it, it was miraculous: they learned a new language, they got in the best shape of their lives, they became a neurosurgeon, blah, blah, blah. Just like toxic positivity, it made everyone else feel even more shitty, and no one truly believes it was all that awesome. Some people need to constantly tell others how great life is with no ability to be “down”, but the rest of us were simply languishing.
View to Ventoux and the Château Le Barroux.
Languishing: that article in the New York Times hit the nail on the head with so many of us and was the most appropriate description of what we were all collectively feeling over the last 18 months. Every day was the same, with nothing new to report. Life was an endless, alarming, and depressing hamster wheel. We were simply surviving, and that was about it. Getting out of bed and breathing was the best we could manage.
For those that did find some joy, mostly it appeared they were living in a place they loved, with good weather and access to the great outdoors. Anyone cramped in a city, with nothing to do but stare at four small walls, was climbing them. No place to exercise, fear of being around another soul for even a moment, our weekly grocery shops were the sad yet frightening highlight of the day. Cooking became onerous, every little daily thing became excruciatingly mundane.
For many, there wasn’t even work. I also lacked work for several months, but luckily my work picked up like gangbusters, and I could barely find time to do much other than work. But I was grateful. So grateful. Work kept my mind occupied. It gave me something to do in the long, dark, miserable, cold days of winter. That itself was a small miracle.
Here, the current situation is quite good. Numbers never got out of control in the last wave, and the minute it started to go up, the government stepped up. It’s a testament to good management, unlike certain places in Canada that resemble the US more than Canada. Personal freedom rather than the collective good has caused the health care system to collapse in Alberta. Here, the vaccine passport was mandated early, now France is 82% fully vaccinated, and it shows. Life is almost normal. No further lockdowns are required when people do what’s good for the whole. I am grateful for every minute I am here and feel safe.
Last stunning days of summer. Fills my soul…
If I can say one positive thing about this whole mess, it would be that we all realized we needed less “stuff” to get by. Food, wine, beer, phone calls and zoom calls. That was about it. No one required fancy designer clothes or the latest handbag. In the end, we learned to maybe prioritize necessities a bit more. The planet got to take a big, deep, healthy breath. I know with certainty Covid has changed me, as it probably has changed almost every living human. I need less of things and more of alive, beautiful nature and quiet to fill my spirit. I didn’t manage to accomplish anything major. I didn’t write a novel or now miraculously have a doctorate in Astrophysics, but I have at least managed to eke out a couple important lessons from this never-ending global nightmare.
