This spring, Covid19 halted our man-made world in its tracks in order to provide a much needed course correction. Through self isolation and lockdowns, we humans have been given a chance to remember our humanity. This “quiet time” in our own corners provides an opportunity for soulful retreat in which to reflect, reassess and recalibrate. We have been living in our self inflicted silos, communicating through devices, often unaware of the pain of those who have been living with enforced marginalization, alienation and isolation long before this moment in time.
While we live in a magical virtual world, it’s clear that the evolution of our humanity is lagging behind technological advancements. Our most recent human history of two world wars, holocausts and continuing genocides the world over, has not taught us the lessons of true love and care. Ongoing racism, bigotry, misogyny and human greed evidenced in the destruction of our environment and the glaring duality between rich and poor, satiated and starving, empowered and disenfranchised, attest to our stunted growth. Apparently, our self destructive trajectory reached an apex which required a pandemic to flatten this detrimental curve.
The natural world responded almost instantaneously to the ceasefire. Media reported pollution lifting to reveal the beauty of the natural world in many parts of the globe, of dolphins returning to cleaner waters in the Venetian canals, of the earth rejuvenating itself. Startling testimony that human civilization cannot continue carelessly and unchecked on this planet any longer. We must carefully consider how we choose to live our lives and coexist with other life forms on this planet; consider how to extend the hand of friendship, gesture of goodwill, selfless regard, even as we keep our distance.
It’s time to reconsider our limiting judgements, stagnant solutions, and crippling fears. The struggle to maintain and advance our humanity is seriously challenged by this threat to our collective wellbeing. The frightening thing about fear is that it knows no bounds when unleashed and compels us to take the most unreasonable measures in the name of reason. The reptilian brain is still powerful in “evolved” modern humans, especially when survival is at stake. The Darwinian “survival of the fittest” mentality still exists as a dangerous undercurrent in our collective psyche. This latest test will reveal the truth of our evolutionary development.
The pandemic affords us an opportunity to care not only about ourselves but our neighbors, friends, family. Maybe as we go inward and expand our capacity for appreciation of all the simple and profound things which support our lives, we may consciously grow patience, compassion, care and even the intimacy of love and devotion. We have the opportunity now to mature as human beings. We can choose to live in a new way; slow down, pay attention, feel gratitude and wonder, muse on our own hearts’ longings, be tender with ourselves and share love with those in our sphere. Maybe as our busyness is halted, we can ask ourselves, if we “have time enough for love?”
Warm regards,
Nur Ambreen
