What Really Matters

When a pandemic reminds us that we’ve assigned value to all the wrong things…

In times of chaos and uncertainty, we start to wonder what matters. The world seems to be standing on its head and we might forget about all the things to which we have assigned meaning and value. Sometimes, like right now, that’s a good thing.

We understand more than ever that the stock market is not the most valuable thing on the planet. We are coming out of our trance, being weaned off the Kool-Aid, and we see that we have assigned value to things that don’t really matter all that much.

We are remembering what does actually matter…

A breath of fresh air

Let’s start here. There is nothing more valuable than a breath of fresh air. The oxygen that fills our lungs, filtered out to us by our brothers and sisters in the green world, the lungs of the earth, manufacturing that air for our own lungs. Nothing is more valuable.

A glass of clean water

This is more valuable than gold, the liquid that hydrates our bodies and keeps us alive. It is the birthright of all living beings, one that should be protected at all costs, above almost everything else.

A field of brown earth

The foundation of our food supply, soil contains more biodiversity than anyplace else on the earth. We know that healthy soil produces more nutrient-dense crops. And we know that soil management and stewardship are integral parts of reversing climate change and preventing widespread desertification. What so many of us consider dirty and useless is actually one of the most important vehicles of our survival.

A bee

Our bees make our food supply possible. According to the USDA, they “pollinate approximately 75% of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the United States, and one out of every four bites of food people take is courtesy of bee pollination.” We know our bees are dying, for a variety of reasons from mites to monocropping to pesticide exposure, yet our government has done little to protect them. Our bees are priceless.

A moment of stillness

We have so little of this in our lives, where we push ourselves and each other to go-go-go, to do-do-do. We might practice yoga, but vigorous vinyasa flows tend to win out over yin practices. We’re supposed to be burning calories and breaking a sweat, right? But our moments of stillness are essential to our mental, emotional, and physical health.

A good night’s sleep

We already know the physical and mental effects of sleep deprivation — memory loss, mood swings, high blood pressure, low libido, increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, and more — yet we regularly eschew sleep in order to work late or to catch up on chores. We need 7–9 hours of sleep every night — an amount of time that seems flat-out indulgent in our culture.

Nutritious, whole food at an affordable price

So many people in the U.S. live paycheck-to-paycheck. And what’s the most available, inexpensive food? Sugary cereals, sugary snack foods, salty chips, and other highly processed foods. Fresh, whole foods are so important, and we need to make them accessible to everyone.

Affordable healthcare

What does anything matter when you can’t afford to go to the doctor when you are sick, or cannot afford treatment when you’ve been diagnosed with an illness? Medical attention and pharmaceutical remedies should not be more valuable than human life.

Time with loved ones

Our lives go by so quickly. One minute, we are raising a family, and the next minute, our children are raising our grandkids. It’s tempting to keep our noses to the grindstone, putting in extra hours at work and giving the living room one more pass with the vacuum, but in the end, we’ll realize how precious every moment was and count each second we spent with a loved one as a cherished memory.

Time to heal

The death of a family member, a breakup or divorce, an injury from an accident, an unexpected diagnosis… Life so often throws us for a loop. There is great value in giving people time to heal, time to grieve, time to find their way again, rather than tamping down our emotions, ignoring our wounds, working through our illnesses just to keep the wheel rolling.

A book

There is nothing like holding a real book in our hands and opening it to find a secret world inside, waiting for us to enter. The feel of its weight in our palms, the texture of the paper against our fingers, the sound of each page as it turns… This is a treasure of an experience.

A warm bed

This is our place to rest, where we can let go of our responsibilities. It’s our shelter. It’s the cradle in which we sleep and renew our bodies. It’s our safety net, our nest. It’s the place where we meet another (or ourselves) in intimacy and pleasure. It’s our lifeboat on the choppy waters of life.

A hug

There is no price you can put on a hug. This reassuring gesture of love and connection is one of the most valuable parts of human life. It helps us feel supported, wanted, held. It allows us to celebrate, mourn, and seduce. It makes our oxytocin flow and our lips curl into a smile. Hugs are everything.

Nope, there’s little value in our stock portfolios (especially right now!), little value in the fight between right and left, little value in the drive to constantly produce. What matters are the things we’ve been taught to disregard. The things that cost little to nothing but will bankrupt us if we lose them.

Let us never forget again…

© Yael Wolfe 2020