Ever since COVID-19 officially became a big deal, people started talking about the fact that we are hit by a pandemic once every century. Back in the 1720s, there was The Great Plague of Marseille, in the 1820s the first cholera pandemic, the Spanish Flu in the 1920s and of course, COVID-19 today. It’s almost cyclical; a great illness that threatens the fabric of our society, but those that survive, emerge with a newfound love for life and the myriad experiences it has to offer.
A couple of days ago, we posted a story on our Instagram, asking people what would be the first thing they would do once the pandemic was over, and their responses really got me thinking. Almost each answer, in some way, shape or form, was tied to a relationship; a human one. One of the respondents said that they wanted to build themselves up and the people around them. A noble thought, not bound by a half-life lived in these difficult times, rather a thought that looked forward to the evolution their own nature and how it could benefit others as well.
Other respondents spoke about meeting their parents and their friends; an understandable yearning after being kept apart for so long. But this yearning isn’t just a case of distance making the heart grow fonder, it is a case of ‘re-valuing’ those important to us. If ‘re-valuing’ doesn’t really make sense, allow me to elaborate on the way I see things. Before all of this happened; COVID-19, lockdown and quarantine, we viewed the people in our lives a specific way. They held a certain value in our day-to-day functioning. But COVID-19 changed how we viewed them. Being subjected to these strange, dangerous circumstances for such a prolonged period of time has led to people reassessing the value of the people they have in their lives.
I personally, really want to go to a microbrewery; not because I love beer, because I do, but because I miss everything surrounding the act of actually going there. The music playing, sitting in a brewery surrounded by people, but most importantly, sitting across from my friends and having a good day. I yearn for the simplistic connection of just being in what I think of as ‘the usual’.
At the end of the day though, what I think people miss the most is opportunity. The opportunity to be, to live the life they want, but that doesn’t seem to exist without human connection. It’s almost as if we are inextricably bound to each other, pandemic or not. Every century, a global illness tries to tear the fabric of our society apart, and every century, it has failed. In the fallout, our relationships, the ones we share with each other, gradually stitch it back together. You and me, common people, insignificant specks in the cosmic plan hold the world together. All of this will pass, and when it does, cherishing those relationships will be the path to a post pandemic life well-lived.