Have we learned from the pandemic?

DEBBIE JACOB

OVER the last two years, I often thought about how the end of the covid pandemic would look and feel.

Clearly, there isn’t going to be a defining moment. New variants will arise; some will be more virulent than others.

Slowly, but surely we will reclaim our lives and learn that we can’t totally go back to being the way we were.

As pandemic restrictions lifted, some proceeded cautiously while others threw caution to the wind.

Most disturbing is the feeling that we didn’t learn much from the lockdowns.

I had hoped people would become more empathetic. We all faced this struggle together; many suffered financially and emotionally. We had to learn to cope on our own, confide in others and accept support in ways we never imagined before.

But I wonder…Have we changed in any meaningful way? Do we watch friends, family and co-workers and consider ways of being more helpful or more compassionate? Have we learned to consider mental health as much as we consider physical health? Have we become more community-oriented?

Did covid help us prioritise our lives? Hopefully, we learned to slow down and savour the simple pleasures of life. What did we learn about our children’s education and their struggle to feel and be themselves without their pre-pandemic social activities? Much has been written and said about how children suffered from social isolation during this pandemic. It is a big issue that parents and schools will have to deal with for years to come.

In our pre-pandemic days, technology defined us. It wasn’t unusual to see children and parents totally lost on their cellphones in public places. No one paid much attention to what was going on around them. At home, many children seemed to be on their computers all the time.

Ironically, during the pandemic, schools forced children to spend more time than ever on electronic devices. That shift in focus meant they needed to find new activities and hobbies.

How much did parents challenge their children to become more creative and more independent in entertaining themselves? Did they encourage their children to do more silent reading? This was the time for them to learn on a reasonable level we can’t always rely on others for our entertainment.

My children, Ijanaya and Zino, often tell me how much they appreciated those invaluable lessons about entertaining themselves while growing up. They remember the treehouse they made in the pomerac tree in our yard. Zino found a board and made a racing ramp for his toy cars. Ijanaya played with a doll's house for hours.

They remembered sitting on the floor and reading picture books and watching no more than two hours of television on weekends. They laugh about growing up in the early stages of Internet dial-up, when you put on the Internet, ate, bathed and came back to find it might be halfway loaded.

There were no cellphones. They didn’t have video games. I never once heard my children complain of being bored.

We don’t know if we will ever again face the serious isolation this pandemic caused, but finding creative ways to entertain ourselves is an invaluable life lesson we will need on lonely weekends or lonely holidays. Those lessons come in handy when we are sick, alone or between relationships when we are adults.

Before this pandemic, we often rushed around mindlessly, but we have had time to think about our lives like never before. What makes us happy? Does our work fulfil us? How can we be happier at work and at home? What does an education really mean to our children?

Our heads should be exploding with questions that we must take the time to answer. Have we emerged from this crisis more aware of poverty and its connection to crime?

When the world shut down, we got the opportunity to see how the environment thrived with less pollution. What are we doing to reduce our carbon footprint?

Did covid make us think any differently about the role government plays in our lives?

Has this pandemic taught us any lessons on how to face the next big crisis in our lives?

In the end, the biggest lesson this pandemic should have taught us is the need for balance. We need social interaction, and we need to find comfort in the time we spend alone. I hope we emerge from this nightmare stronger than ever.