Silver Linings Among The Dark Clouds

Summary

The author expresses gratitude for the silver linings amidst the pandemic, including reconnecting with family and loved ones, finding inspiration in the Medium community, adopting healthier eating habits, and appreciating nature's resurgence.

Abstract

The author begins by recalling a cold January morning when she missed herself dearly, highlighting the unexpected challenges brought by the pandemic. Despite the hardships, she feels grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with herself and her family, as video calls have become more frequent and meaningful. The author also acknowledges the support and inspiration she has received from her Medium community, which has helped her continue writing despite the demanding residency schedule. Additionally, she appreciates the enforced reduction in junk food consumption, leading to healthier eating habits. Lastly, the author expresses gratitude for the clearer skies, happier birds, cleaner water, and the resurgence of dolphins, viewing this as a moment of epiphany for humanity to realize its harmony with nature.

Opinions

The pandemic has provided an opportunity to reconnect with oneself and loved ones, leading to a renewed sense of responsibility and emotional connection.
The Medium community has been a significant source of inspiration and support, enabling the author to balance her residency and writing endeavors.
The enforced reduction in junk food consumption is seen as a blessing in disguise, promoting healthier eating habits.
The pandemic has led to a resurgence of nature, with clearer skies, happier birds, cleaner water, and the return of dolphins, emphasizing the importance of harmony between humans and nature.
The author views the pandemic as a moment of epiphany for humanity, highlighting the need to prioritize emotional connections and appreciate the beauty of nature.
The author encourages readers to express their care and concern for loved ones to avoid post-corona depression and maintain mental health.
Despite the challenges, the author remains optimistic that by staying together and counting their blessings, humanity will emerge victorious with a renewed sense of awareness about themselves and the world.

Thank you, dear Dipti Pande (inspired by Gurpreet Dhariwal and Sherry McGuinn’s writing prompt) for tagging me in this exercise. I very much believe in the power of gratitude that can help us tide over the toughest of times.

It was 6 o’clock on a January morning — cold and damp from the overnight showers across the city. I remember hugging myself to shoo away the chill hanging in the air as I hurried upstairs to the third floor to reach my hostel room after a gruelling night duty. There lay my room-mate, wrapped up in her blanket, blissfully asleep with the fairylights still on. And all of a sudden, I missed myself dearly.

Clicked on January 20, 2020

For sure, nobody had wanted the year to begin this way. Our ‘Vision 2020' wasn’t about dwindling homes, infected air, personal losses, empty pockets and social insecurity. But as they say, every cloud has a ‘silver lining’. The pandemic, if not anything, has definitely reunited us with ourselves. I feel grateful that for the time being, I miss myself no more. Earlier, I remember being able to make calls to my family probably hardly once a week or so, thanks to the hectic schedule of Anaesthesiology residents and partly to our own general sense of coldness towards emotional connections in our lives that demand more of our attention. However, things have changed ever since this tiny little creature of a virus has threatened the human existence. Even though miles away from home, I feel more responsible towards my family and the ‘bonding’ I had always shared with them seems to have restored. My video-calls to them have become more frequent. Like others, this deviation from the normal rush of routine has allowed me to stop, breathe, rewind, rethink and re-prioritise my life. Certainly, at this point, no one wants to leave any stone unturned to stay connected to their loved ones. We don’t want to lose them and then end up with regrets just because we didn’t know what was more important in our lives. I urge all of my readers to keep reminding their near and dear ones, every once in a while that they do care about them. Do ask how they have been doing during this lockdown period. We don’t want ‘Post-corona depression’ to hit our mental health so soon.

Another silver lining for me has been my ‘Medium’ circle. Juggling residency and passion is a Herculean task. Words won’t suffice if I start thanking the people on Medium who keep me inspired along the way so that I can continue writing despite all odds - Dr Mehmet Yildiz Gurpreet Dhariwal Dennett Dipti Pande San Cassimally Sylvia Love Johnson Deborah Horton Kirstin Vanlierde Chris Hedges 🦄 Agnes Louis Arthur G. Hernandez Apoorv Ashutosh Ashishnidhi Hawkeye Pete Egan B. Bonnie Flach Terri DelCampo-Nelson Dana G Smith Mary Holden Harsh Indra Raj Pathak Sherry McGuinn Medium Staff Sumera Rizwan Ramki Ramakrishnan Shin Jie Yong Vishishtha Upul Aurora Eliam, CMP and many more! Thanks to the most amazing publication ‘ILLUMINATION’ that has constantly been supportive of my writing endeavours. It has an eclectic mix of literature which is stimulating to a creative mind.

Let me also confess that this challenging time has forced us to cut down our intake of junk food. Being forced to eat healthy is definitely a blessing in disguise.

There’s so much to be thankful for even during the most testing of times. The skies are clearer and the birds are happier. The water is cleaner and the dolphins are playing around. I suppose this is a great time for the mankind, which has mostly been at loggerheads with the nature, to realise that in harmony lies our strength. Our self-made egos cannot defeat the nature. We’re just like any other species and we too can be eliminated. This is a ‘moment of epiphany’ for the human race that I’m grateful for.

Silver Linings Among The Dark Clouds

Writing Prompt|An exercise in gratitude

Thank you, dear Dipti Pande (inspired by Gurpreet Dhariwal and Sherry McGuinn’s writing prompt) for tagging me in this exercise. I very much believe in the power of gratitude that can help us tide over the toughest of times.

It is the darkest nights that produce the brightest stars. I’m pretty sure if we all stay together in this fight and keep counting our blessings each day, we’ll emerge victorious with a renewed sense of awareness about ourselves and our world.