Last month we were concerned about the bushfires burning across Australia. The month before that we were striking against climate change. Now we are panicking about a thing called the coronavirus. A tiny virus that has the power to create global and widespread panic and bizarre behaviour.
However, you respond to this is a choice. The question is, do you join the masses, or do you see this as an opportunity to evolve?
It’s Here Now
We understand how the coronavirus spread from animals to humans. Why the coronavirus got here is another question.
It could be a man-made government or other invention released to reduce and control the population. It could be a natural virus spread by Mother Nature in response to the way we treat animals and the planet and an attempt to stop the parasitic infestation of human impact upon her skin.
It could be a naturally occurring transmission that would happen when particular species are in contact – in the very unnatural ways that we create when we treat animals as commodities. Or it could be something else.
Regardless, the issue we collectively face as the “species of humanity” is that the coronavirus is here, and we need to choose both individually and collectively whether we will react or respond to it, and how we will do that.
Herd Immunity
The greatest concern with this virus seems to be the speed at which it spreads. We have most likely passed a point of containment and elimination and stopping it completely.
The way a species fights off disease is for a community to develop immunity to it. At this stage, it seems inevitable that “we”, being every member of the human species, will most likely be exposed to this virus at some point in time. Many of us may not even know we have it.
The concern seems greatest for those most vulnerable and with lowered immunity, and to ensure we have the health care facilities and resources in place to care for them if and when they become ill.
The challenge then is to slow down the spread of the illness to a pace that the health care systems and resources can keep up with it.
The strategy of reducing unnecessary gatherings of large people in close contact to slow down and manage the spread of this virus makes sense in light of this.
However, many seem to be reacting to this as an “end of the world” scenario.
Pandemic Of “Fear Of Pandemic”
The current outbreak to be concerned about is not the outbreak of coronavirus, but the outbreak of fear.
It is not the coronavirus that caused people to start stock-piling toilet paper and tissues, then rice and pasta, then tinned and frozen vegetables and finally meat, milk, eggs, chips and the majority of supermarket food… until the shelves were bare.
It is not the coronavirus who bought out printer ink and webcams from the local stationery store in preparation for locking themselves up and working in their homes.
It is not the coronavirus who spurs the media on with stories of people piling trolleys high and fighting each other for food.
It is not the coronavirus that creates the fear of the coronavirus.
It is human beings, collectively, who have created a pandemic of “fear of a pandemic.”
Get A Grip
Before we start stock-piling hundreds of rolls of toilet paper and 2 years worth of canned food, we need to stop and ask ourselves why we are doing this and what we are afraid of.
What the hell are you actually scared of? Dying? Losing your job? What is it? And why exactly are you scared? Ask yourself if it is really likely that all the food sources are going to stop tomorrow, and why? Will the cows stop producing milk? Will farmers stop milking? Will vegetables stop growing?
Really consider why we are acting like it is the end of the entire world…
Figure out what stories you are listening to, who is telling them, and how credible are they really? Then go look for the real facts.
Choose to gather all the facts. Choose to look for the objective truths in all of this. Choose to look at death rates around the world for other illnesses and who is most at risk. Take the time to look at the facts and calculate the real risk here. Take personal responsibility for your hygiene and be aware of where you go, what you touch and who you interact with.
Death and Mortality
The World Health Organization states that 500,000 to 650,000 people die of influenza and respiratory illness each year globally. Why don’t we panic about that?
The World Health Organization estimated that 627,000 women died from breast cancer in 2018 alone. Why aren’t we up in arms about that?
The World Health Organization states that the two top causes of death, stroke and heart disease caused 15.2 million deaths in 2016. Why does that not scare us? Why is no-one acting to stop those deaths?
We really need to seriously consider what we are so panicked about.
Is it because COVID-19 has the potential to affect all of us rather than someone else? Is it because it is unseen and undetectable? Is it because we don’t understand it?
Perhaps it is the issue of our own personal mortality and connection and relationship with death. If you have no fear of death and understand that it is a natural part of the cycle, then you are unlikely to fear and panic about it so much.
Respond or React?
How we each choose to either respond or react to this event individually, as communities, as families, as nations and as the collective species of humanity is very telling as to the level of consciousness that exists within each of us and each of these groups.
What we do now will have cultural, social and economic impacts that will ripple on for years to come.
How we choose to react or respond now is the choice we are collectively making for the future we are creating and will experience.
This thing may take months or years to spread, and it could be around for quite a while. So what do you want to create and how do you want to live during this time?
Are you going to react in fear and panic, or are you going to respond in a logical and calm way?
How do you want to live? It is your choice either way.
When we react immediately and violently from a place of fear we make decisions for the short term without considering the long term.
When we close down businesses, stockpile food, shut down transport, stop buying, this will affect the economy, the ability of people to earn income and ultimately the ability of people to continue to live.
This is all our choice. No one, especially not the coronavirus is making us do any of this.
Conscious Corona Awakening
The appearance of this virus is an opportunity for individual and global awakening and a shift in consciousness across the planet – if this is what we choose, and allow.
The coronavirus is asking us all to pause, to start to consider who and what is important to us, to think about the way we are living and the choices we are each making.
It is asking us to take more self-responsibility and think about the people, the places, situations and environments we are exposing ourselves to and the effect they have on us, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically.
It is asking us to stop, slow down our work, perhaps spend more time at home and reconnect with family and the people and communities around us.
It is asking us to think about the vulnerable and wider members of our community and consider whether we choose to help them out or selfishly stockpile food and resources and screw the rest of the world.
It is asking us to work as communities to find solutions to how we can live our lives better, and help one another.
The coronavirus is asking us, globally, to wake up and look at the world we have created, together, and really think about what we are doing. If you choose.
This is not a short-term game. We need to be in this for the long haul, and we need to be in this together. What we do now IS creating the future we will experience.
The Species Of Humanity
The coronavirus could be the greatest thing to happen to the human species.
The coronavirus could be the very thing we need.
The coronavirus could be the catalyst for a shift into a new way of thinking, living and being on this planet that is desperately required.
The coronavirus could be the very thing that brings us together and makes us realise that we are not in this alone, and that every choice we make affects the whole. Always. Whether you believe it or want it to or not.
The solutions and outcomes to this will not come from a doctor, a government or anyone in authority. The solutions and outcomes will be created by the collective and the choices made by every single person every single day.
It all depends on your perspective, how you choose to see this event, the choices you make in response to it, how you want to live your future life and what you want the world to be.
If you want a “pandemic of fear of pandemic” then go ahead, stockpile, look out for yourself, and screw the rest of the world.
If that is the attitude you want to take, then that is the world you shall create.
The choice is yours…
…Liz Watt