Unexpected Benefits

The silver lining should we say of the current pandemic crisis is that people are really pulling together, supporting each other and being kinder to each other.  Being restricted to our homes is having the benefit of less pollution, more family time even though at a distance and often with the aid of modern technology.  I for one hope that this pandemic has a positive impact on the way that we live or have to live, so that we have more choices and that we can live more in harmony with the planet that we do live on.  There are other ways of achieving things, without damaging things and I think this pandemic nasty as it is has made us all think about our priorities and what really matters to us.  A lot of people are going back to growing things themselves, me included, although I have always done a little bit 

One of the things I have been surprised at is that people do not know what to do with themselves with this enforced time at home. I am perhaps peculiar in that I always have too much to do and can keep myself occupied at the best of times.  Sometimes I cannot do what I want to do because of lack of funds, but it does not mean I cannot do all the planning work surrounding that particular project so that when funds are available I can just set to it and complete.  

I think perhaps I have always been a little insular in that in my toddler years I did not have children to play with as we lived in a hamlet of a village where there were no children of my age.  It was only when I went to Junior School at the age of four that I had proper friends.  I also found solace in books as I have always been a compulsive reader.  Having a book keeps you occupied and takes you away from the real world in may respects and lets you use your imagination and escape and rest.  As ,my dear Dad used to say "if you have a book you always have a friend".

Despite the vicious nature of the Covid 19 and its wake of in many cases unnecessary casualties (for which my sincere condolences go out to those that have lost loved ones at this very difficult time).  People for the best part have become kinder to each other.  Before the pandemic I used to trawl to do my shopping with my shopping trolley and come back fully loaded and people used to pass you by and not offer to assist.  Since the pandemic I have had several offers of assistance from complete strangers who saw me lugging everything back home but who were kind enough to ask if I needed any assistance.  That alone has been very refreshing and I hope this attitude continues.  Not that I necessarily need the assistance as I am quite independent, but it is nice to be asked.

Quality time, especially when you have a family is a very important thing and I think many people will want to retain that bonus and aspect from this terrible situation when Lockdown is ended.  I think that for many people this pandemic and how it has been coped with, will raise more questions in the future as people who work will want to retain that work-life balance now that they have had it.  Home and family have been put into focus.  Perhaps the lesson to be learned overall is that there are other ways more rounded ways of doing something or achieving something that is far better for everyone overall rather than for financial reasons.  For me the slow way is more rounded, more thorough and kinder to everyone involved as well as the planet.  We so rely on our planet and its natural resources for our everyday survival but at the rate we have been living we have been destroying that very fabric and ecology that we need so much.  Attitudes need to change and perhaps this is our wake up call to deal with matters in a different way.  For the main our lives are not about politics or who has done this or that.  The priority is to get rid of this particular nasty infection to make sure that everyone is safe and to make sure that it does not happen again.  Decisions should be made on whether something is right and fair overall especially use of land decisions.  There is so much unused space within our Cities and our countryside that has been ravaged to build this thing that took away precious wild land/countryside.  Rather than lose any more green countryside make sure that what is already compromised is used up first.

We therefore into our futures need to be kinder, greener and more considerate of others in many respects.

I think after all this upheaval and effort on behalf of most people, (you always get a few who do not adhere) many people's priorities will have changed and those choices we now have are firmly put into perspective.

Fingers crossed that the right choices are now made.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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