The sky has never been bluer, nature hasn´t been heard this clear for so long. ”Is that an owl?” “What´s that? Silence?” The air has been filled with scents, that for long have been in oblivion. ”Umm, is that a new flower?” The latter possibly due to what caused all these new discoveries – the non-scent side of Covid 19.
This late spring brought us all to new experiences. Scary and frightening ones, great losses of near and dear, pain and frustration and whole new life situations to a lot of people. Half the world, no, more than that, has been under so-called lockdown, prisoners of their own accomodations, locked out of their daily habits of leaving home to go to work. Something strange and new to most people who normally commute somewhere to make a living, leaving family members in different directions only to meet them briefly over dinner or not even that. All of a sudden forced to stay under the same roof 24/7, left out to what in the old days was the general rule. Living together, sharing literally everything in life.
So what´s so bad about it? Nothing really, if you disregard the pandemic and the suffering from affected, both having it and the tremendous, admirable efforts from the ward staff all over the world that it has caused. Not if we can see the positive aspects of it and grow from that insight. Keep life simple and appreciate small things around you, the ones on your doorstep.
We don´t need to buy gadgets to stay happy, we don´t need to travel around the world just to experience that one holiday resort in one country looks very much the same as another. We don´t need to go out and spend money for the sake of it. We didn´t use to. We don´t need to make nature accessible to everyone – it is already there. We don´t need to lose contact with friends just because we are restricted to go to bars and restaurants, we can keep in touch thanks to todays technology. And what´s more – we can wait a little and enjoy the moment even more when we finally meet!
In my family we are pretty close already, always have been, always will be, due to various moves abroad and back, being of dual nationalities with a good dose of nomad blood. This new situation hasn´t changed much for us. Maybe a bit when following the general restrictions in keeping the distance, but nothing we can´t cope with.
All this has happened with good timing if you ask me. The climate can´t take much more emissions. Mother nature has been calling out loud for long now, begging us to listen, act and keep her tremendous treasure. Hear her and let us just carry on, following this new path, stop for a bit and recognise the grandness of life and nature. Who knows? We might just be able to change our lifestyles after all.
Changing our lifestyles 