Summary

The article reflects on the personal and societal lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the importance of self-control, the recognition of human fragility, and the necessity for flexibility.

Abstract

The author of the article shares insights on the transformative impact of the pandemic on individuals and communities. The prolonged nature of the pandemic has led to a rollercoaster of emotions and a shift in the way people perceive and manage their lives. The article highlights the development of self-control as a crucial survival skill during lockdowns, noting that this ability is not tied to age, wealth, or education. It also underscores the fragility of human life and societal structures in the face of the virus, which has upended certainties and plans. Furthermore, the piece discusses the importance of mental and emotional flexibility, akin to physical flexibility achieved through yoga, to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances imposed by the pandemic. The author concludes that the pandemic has forced an unprecedented level of self-restraint and has required people to lower their expectations, taking life one day at a time.

Opinions

The author observes that the pandemic has caused a significant shift in public sentiment and behavior over time, influenced by the evolving nature of the virus and societal restrictions.
There is a recognition that the ability to develop and practice self-control has been essential during the pandemic, and it transcends demographic factors such as age, socioeconomic status, and education level.
The article suggests that the pandemic has revealed the fragility of human life, health systems, economies, and social relationships, challenging the reliability of long-term plans and scientific predictions.
The author posits that the pandemic has necessitated a reevaluation of personal goals and expectations, with a shift towards more short-term, flexible planning to cope with the uncertainty.
The piece draws a parallel between the mental resilience required during the pandemic and the physical flexibility developed through practices like yoga, emphasizing the importance of adaptability.
The author reflects on the idea that the pandemic has forced a "one day at a time" approach to life, similar to the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous, as a means of maintaining stability and sanity in the face of ongoing challenges.
The article subtly critiques the human tendency to resist change and the importance of embracing flexibility, as symbolized by the contrast between the oak and the willow in the face of adversity.
Lastly, the author notes the irony of science fiction's influence on modern technology, with elements of shows like The Jetsons becoming a reality during the pandemic through virtual meetings and telemedicine, while also highlighting the ongoing struggle to balance self-control with the desire for normalcy.

My Lessons From This–Pandemic–2020 (Hopefully, Yours Too)

So far, and counting: several months still ahead

We all have seen tons of memes, posts, and videos spreading laughter, joy, hope, sarcasm, or pure cynicism. It has depended on the week and status of the pandemic, but have you seen how they have changed over time? This has to do with the evolution — that at times looks and feels like complete involution — of this thing.

Oh yes, our feelings have changed, just like a roller coaster, sometimes within hours because these times have posed their own and peculiar pace and defiance. So… we have learned lessons that can only be learned at times like these.

About our self-control

That’s something that has intrigued me during these pandemic months. The more time we (some more than others, depending on the country you live in) spend locked-down, the more self-control we have had to develop and put into practice… and it’s been reveling. Let me explain why.

In the beginning, most people did follow the rules and stayed home and obeyed, unless they had to go to work. In countries and cities like mine, many people have informal ways of earning a living, making staying at home completely out of question.

But little by little restrictive measures — to stay home and to keep social distancing — have become more and more relaxed. On the one hand, true, the governments themselves have turned more permissive even if the curve has not been flattened enough; on the other, though, large portions of the citizenships have lowered their precautions because they can’t deal with the restrictions — old and new ones, like wearing masks — and they simply can’t manage more of the emergency state.

It’s not only been the people who have to work or else they’ll not pay the most basic bills and starve. It’s not only been the uneducated either, though. It’s not just the very young used to the instant gratification, lesser patient individuals. Or the very old ones used to getting their way no matter what. It’s also been the well-educated with access to the news and articles and research and journals. Some people have more trouble self-controlling, simply put.

‘I’m tired of this’, they say. ‘I need to get my life back’!, ‘I want to live!’, ‘I can’t take it any longer!’, ‘I can’t stand more isolation!’, ‘This is no life!’. Their arguments are many and along these lines. And they are right, you see. They are more than right.

But let’s not forget that we all have had to isolate ourselves. Some in more precarious situations than others, even among those with roofs over their heads and food on the table. And electricity, and the internet, and computers, and Netflix. Even among those lucky ones (one should be more than thankful if one happens to be among those, and if you and I are interacting here, we are), some simply can’t take it anymore.

The answer to mastering self-control lies somewhere else, not in age, wealth, education. And that intrigues me. That’s something yet for me to continue understanding and learning.

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

Blaise Pascal

About our fragility

Man can get to the moon and we can store all of our information in a cell phone chip so small that we have to be careful not to toss it away by mistake… but we are so incredibly fragile upon this virus that it’s scary. Not because we’re pessimistic and somber, but come on! The virus is tiny but it can invade us and take over our body — however otherwise healthy — as if we were brittle as glass, and shatter us to the core.

Fragile we are. Not only our bodies and health but our whole livelihoods, finances, property, plans, and even social relationships. Everything has experienced such an upside-down swirl that we feel fragile, and we are so, indeed.

Why? Because nothing does stay long, remains true, or proves right. We cannot depend on what was valid the day before or on long-term forecasts. They can be shattered the following week. We cannot rely on scientific predictions, statistics, promises. They can prove wrong the next day. Any piece of information seems temporary because it is frail. As I recently wrote, this has ripped off any certainty.

We have been told the approximate duration of lockdowns; whether or not to wear a mask; whether children could get sick; that we could start going out; that we should get back into social distancing; that classes would be resumed; that they probably won’t; that… you name it. Everything is weak.

Have you too noticed how we have learned to lower the bar more and more and more, and yet more? That’s because the bars set are unsteady, too. That has been a harsh realization. A funny sensation, a strange mindset. We will have to do home-office for some weeks? Ok, will do. We won’t be able to have the graduation in May? Ok. Not even by the beginning of the next semester, either? Ok. We won’t be able to travel abroad? Ok. Not even domestic flights? Ok.

Everything in everybody’s lives looks pinned with even more fragile pins.

About our flexibility

When one does yoga, one is exercising the muscles and joints to become flexible. That allows, in time, more capability of our bodies. It also trains our minds to become flexible in the face of the unexpected, the unplanned, the unknown.

I’m not telling you here to take up yoga (well, maybe we all should). What is obvious to me is that whether our bodies are strong yet flexible, it’s our mindsets that have required more elasticity of all, and fast. Or we’d break.

I just mentioned that we’re settling for less and less and less each time. We surely are, and our teeny tiny goals are that, teeny tiny, because everything is temporary or simply merely wishful thinking. We welcome and acknowledge these facts of scarcity, or else we would break.

So our ‘mode’ has become that of AA: ‘One day at a time, just for today’. That will be enough, as well as all we can manage. We will have to make do with this mode for the duration of this, or at least until the waters of this sea we’re all in regain stability, calmness. Until then, one day at a time, just for today.

The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.

Robert Jordan, The Fires of Heaven

Science fiction has always helped us to believe in the feasibility of the unrealistic. Cell phones like Bond’s — James, I mean — for one. But the winner fiction of all is The Jetsons. Who knew that one day — the year 2020 — we’d be having Zoom classes, home-officing, having doctor’s visits via Whatsapp or FaceTime, forced to self-control like never before in our lifetimes, however unrealistic it sounded in November 2019.

The brittleness of all has made us flexible to take things on as they approach and to adjust to what IS — at least for the time being — not what used to be. And we still must learn to control ourselves and our desires. That’s a lesson still in need of improvement.