LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

In the words of Kanye West: it was all good just a week ago. Or so we thought. The truth is, crises had not yet arrived on our doorsteps, and so we averted our eyes and carried on as they unfolded elsewhere. The truth is, and as history has shown us, it’s never our problem until it becomes our problem. Until our own livelihoods and freedoms are hampered, we carry on. Business as usual.

A mysterious coronavirus originating in Wuhan, Hubei Province and sweeping through China first made world headlines late last year. Now, some three months later, the disease – benign to most but insidiously fatal to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions – has reached almost every corner on Earth. And as governments across the globe impose ‘lockdowns’, and the countries of world close their borders, there’s an air of uncertainty, anxiety and fear. Uncertain of what tomorrow will bring. Anxious that we’ve lost control. Fear that the worst is yet to come.

But there is hope, yet. Even in the midst of the chaos. As though by some cruel twist of fate, because we’re literally being forced to stay still, we are equally forced to recognize that, for better or for worse, we’re all in this together. I can’t think of a time in my lifetime when the whole world was experiencing and reacting to the same crisis, almost in unison. We’ve been swiftly reminded that China is really not that far away from our own doorsteps. And that life isn’t only precious within our own borders.

There is something so beautifully moving about humanity in the face of crippling adversity. Those are the stories that have kept us hopeful and the stories that will remain when this is all but a memory. Love in the time of war. Courage, even in fear. Solidarity in the face of a common threat.

As we all prepare to socially isolate over the next days and weeks (physically, anyway!), let’s be our brothers’ and grandmothers’ keepers. Let’s practice good hand washing. And for the love of everyone who might actually need it, leave some toilet paper for the rest of us. This too shall pass.

Stay safe and healthy!