Cleaning the Mess
Living in these difficult and challenging times where COVID-19, economy downturn, and BIM (Black Lives Matter) protest have occurred simultaneously, I feel bad that a few unwise people have agitated the whole world, and the rest of us have to work on fixing the problems they’ve created. Well, life is unfair. So I think we just need to focus on how to clean the mess and how not to make the same mess again.
On an individual level, we have to take care of ourselves more seriously than ever before. Eat right. Exercise regularly. Consume less. Clean all the time. Read good books and take their wise advice. Appreciate arts and become a good person who creates good things. On the other hand, I’m sure we’ve learned that it is better to stop pursuing something scientifically and morally wrong, stop eating what we are not supposed to eat, stop abusing or overusing Earth resources, and stop discriminating other races who fundamentally share the same ancestors with our own.
In my neighborhood, I see more people jogging and cycling outside these days. Maybe it is because they have nothing else to do during the lockdown. But, I’d like to see the phenomenon as a sign of health-awareness and mind-control. Watching all the bad news related to the pandemic, economic crisis, and racial inequality, I can’t help but feel pessimistic and depressed. I’m sure others would feel the same way. One of the best ways to avoid the negative is to practice not thinking about the negative. In order to dismiss unpleasant external forces, physical activities help. All the gyms are close now. We have no choice but run outside or do home-training. Sunbathing and looking at greens help as well. Such activities should be done, though, under the condition that we keep sanitizing and wearing a mask if possible. Even after the pandemic ends, hygiene-consciousness must stay. This is one way of cleaning the current mess.
Involuntarily we’ve been quarantined for more than three months now due to the lockdown causing business closure. Only essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies were allowed to open in the state of emergency. So we somehow could train ourselves to consume less and experience a minimalist’s life. In a world of Capitalism, this situation is critically bad. However, we could learn about how to simplify things and focus more on the essential like one’s own time, family, community. After all, the habit of overconsumption and materialistic satisfaction is proven to be no help of our well-being.
The most crucial lesson we’ve learned during this challenging time is that we are still fragile species even with the advance of science and technology. Regardless of race, gender, or age, we are struggling to protect ourselves from any form of attack such as the unknown virus and inhumane or unethical treatment. A ruthless contact with wild animals, damaging the ecosystem, and disrespecting one another lead to nothing but destruction. It is like digging our own graves. No one wants to do that.
Once again, it is proven how important it is to practice cooperation, modesty and wisdom in order to prevent ourselves from what has happen in the first half of the year 2020.
