How fast can a society adapt?
In the past 3 months, we have all learned that some changes come without us having planned nor anywhere near foreseen them. Having read a lot about life changes during this process I am in the middle of; what they are and when they most commonly occur and how we actively create conscious change, I can firmly say that pandemic has seldomly (ok, never) been in any of the books or researches I have read until now.
We are facing our first pandemic in modern time, and the future is still very uncertain. Huge financial impact on both societal and individual level for many, reports on increasing domestic abuse throughout the world are just some of the implications that Covid-19 has had. It goes without saying, this pandemic has shaken us all to the very core and it will take a long time for the world to recover whenever the pandemic is out of sight. And of the end of it, we know very little to nothing. What we do know and what not only epidemiologists but experts within several areas have agreed on, is that the way we live today, has opened the doors to these forms of pandemic to occur considerably more frequently in the future. Humans have taken over more and more geographical zones of the planet, meaning that animals that once were distanced from us, today live side by side with us, exposing us to all sorts of matter that the human body is not used to nor equipped for.
Will anything good come out of Covid – 19?
Without taking light nor importance from the true crisis this pandemic has obviously caused, all has not been bad. When we go past the dark statistics of death, economy, domestic abuse and much more, there are glimpses of change that are needed.
What if we could turn the perspective a bit? If we could see Covid-19 as the compass that is teaching us to live differently, to create systems and businesses and consumption patterns that are sustainable rather than directly toxic, as how we have lived until today. Especially the privileged side of the world. It is fascinating to see that governments as well as people have this enormous ability to adapt to a new reality so quickly.
Approximately 7,5 billion humans have during the last 3 months decreased the global emissions by more than 50%. In a crucial environmental crossroads, this is nothing but a blessing for the only home we know. Sometimes I wonder if we have previously thought that a move to Mars is just around the corner (it isn’t), considering how we – despite science clearly stating that we are digging our own grave of human life - have continued with our toxic habits. One dig at a time. Millions and millions of children and youngsters driving the #fridaysforfuture has not been enough. The iconic Greta Thunberg and her speeches bringing emotional depth and severity to the facts that all politicians are very aware of, was not enough. Nothing less than a pandemic like this would have had the chance to bring action to the table. Now politicians globally need to bring true change to the table. What other option do we have?
And what about on an individual level?
When I embarked my journey of change, I did not expect to enter a world as it looks today. After my formally last day in the office end of April this year, I had planned to take some time off to do some soul-searching while also starting to write on a book. Little did I know that the entire world would be in some form of not-even- imaginable-pause of a kind. I read somewhere the phrase “Corona is like the parent telling us kids to go to our rooms to think about what we have done.” That is a bit how it all felt and feels for a lot of us. With the time for pause and reflection that this unprecedented situation has created for many, we have been able to evaluate our lives up until today, and also post-crisis. New insights will start arising, and from that, action. But we do need to make an active effort, otherwise history has shown time and time again that humans do not necessarily learn from their mistakes. But again, with effort, true change will start taking form.
I do see change arising. The conversations become deeper in their character, more existential. Knowing that life as we know it can change from one second to the other does things to people. When we no longer can take the life and society for granted, we will become more aware of ourselves and all things around and inside of us.
So, to some questions for you to play around with:
- What were you sent into your room for doing, and will you change that habit long term?
- What changes do you hope to see on a societal level?
- What changes do you believe you will make when things go back to “normal”?
- Has the pandemic made you think differently about life? If so, how?
Knowing that the pandemic has had, has, and will continue having heavy implications for many people, I truly hope that all of us do not “go back to normal” the day the restrictions are gone, but to actually start thinking about what type of world we want to live in onwards. We know for a fact that the power of change is there, both on an individual and societal level when shit hits the fan. The question is what we will do with that insight.