IT IS a high season of coronavirus pandemic spread. The first day of community quarantine. It means I need to stay or work at home. While the world is wrestling with the virus, staying at home has afforded me an ample time to do that which heals my soul -- writing.
Its contagion is as quiet as the surrounds but as panicking as the news coming out every minute of a day; its transmission is as quick as the speed of light and; its infection is widespread like pests in a rice field. It is virus of its kind -- a class by itself -- a new face that its vaccine is yet to be studied, formulated and tested in such uncertain length of time.
Tilting the balance towards health
As I see it, the world has been put to a halt to arrest this pandemic crisis, prevent its prevalent contagion and avert the enormously adverse economic impact. At such extraordinary times, extraordinary measures have been put into place. But a delicate act of balancing is necessary to contain the transmission, however, ensuring mitigated disruptions to economic activities.
Almost all affected countries have devised their own ways -- social distancing, curfew, self-quarantine. The medical experts strongly urge everyone to observe healthy protocols -- wash hands, wear masks and take vitamins. All are designed to prevent, contain and stop corona from further spreading. And hopefully in a matter of time flatten the curve and we will live a new normal life.
The term "lockdown" instantly assumed a household name. But it was toned down and later on rebranded to “Enhanced Community Quarantine” (ECQ) to avert chilling effect on the citizens. Thus, governments have yet to factor in on the equation the right to travel and freedom of movement.
But my fear is as heavy as yours on the far-reaching but adverse impact on the economy. It is because on other side spreads the fear of economic meltdown -- stock price plunging, unemployment rising, production halting, among others. The worst is yet to come on a long term, post-pandemic period -- recession, hunger and poverty -- as a new kind of plague particularly for the third world countries.
An effort to strike a balance between saving lives and economic survival is far from reality. The dichotomy between the two persists. For how can the authority impose quarantine or urge "social distancing" when the wheel of economy would only spin by social economic drivers, mostly fueled by human workforce. A machine would never start without the human touch. Not even a digital economy altogether ignore human presence. In a broader but ambiguous spectrum, we are confronted with vaguely vulnerable situation where the supposed socio-medical antidotes offer more malady than a sustaining cure.
Our weapon to fight an unbeatable foe
What are the human qualities needed to fight corona virus? What lesson can we learn from this suffering? What values can we earn from this crisis?
The bleak picture of this pandemic along with the challenges that we all faced and the collective responses to fight it have shattered the normalcy of our daily routines and in deeper but wider sense challenged our belief system and old paradigm on how we live in the past decades. In the past days, I have found them profusely disturbing. And with the overflow of corona-related news and updates, all the more that it has aggravated seeming confusion and fears, subjecting us all to a more severe vulnerability.
But around the cloud hovering over my mind is a silver lining sparkling in the form of human virtues. It is in these days and even weeks of staying at home that an unexpected opportunity has been bestowed on me to go deeper into the abyss of humanity and look forward to what tomorrow can bring.
It is then a fruit of my reflection that staying at home is not an isolation, not even a contrast. But it is an inner disposition to appreciate our collective but indomitable human spirit which always rises above any human crisis.
For me, it has gifted us a new brand of bravery to transform our deep-seated belief system into a more meaningful mindset. This time, however, is taking us to a different course with new patterns of curves along the way, thus, portraying a new scenery where we can search for our lost humanity. The end in view, therefore is to hone us anew into a refreshed atmosphere when this crisis is over for us to move forward into the future.
One of my first among many realizations during this coronavirus onslaught is the stark but long-ignored reality that men are all created equal. This worldwide pandemic is a second-to-death leveler of human race -- poor and rich alike. It has awakened us from deep oblivion of this inherited equality inherent to humanity. This human attribute has brought us into a dual paradigms of awakening and change.
The first paradigm leads me to transcendental journey, an upward level of consciousness towards suffering and death. In these troubled times, we end up asking the same questions we used to ask during hours of pain and grief. Why is there a widespread suffering in our land due to corona virus infection? Why do thousands fall everyday all over the world? This era of human suffering and death pushes us back to reexamine our faith so as to move forward to find meaning in all what we have been going through nowadays.
In case of suffering, is it not an antecedence of happiness through the facility of pain? As what St. Augustine said, “Everywhere a greater joy is preceded by a greater suffering.”
Or in case of death, is it not an opening of a new door after one is shut off? For the believers, it guides us to a new spiritual path -- a “beyond-the-grave” possibility -- towards a perfect crossover to eternity.
However, as we are coping up with this crisis, this paradigm is just beyond comprehension for the time being. Sometimes, those who are undergoing the pain cannot find meaning in their suffering, but they can teach other people to find it. We hold it for a while but let ourselves go through it with strong character, resiliency and hope.
Which brings to a second paradigm of change. It is a sudden shift from the field of competition to the new platform of collaboration. In time of crisis, we intend to unite as we forget our differences for the greater wellbeing of the people. As the world is fighting against corona virus, the spirit of heroism stands out among our people from all sectors of society. For those who stay at work to keep us at bay, they will be remembered as our lifetime heroes.
Our frontliners -- the doctors, nurses and medical crew -- who are working day and night in the hospitals, away from their homes and families, if only to attend to our ailing patients. Some of them succumbed to the very disease they are trying to contain and cure.
Our skeletal workforce -- the food delivery personnel, market vendors, grocery cashiers and baggers, security guards, and linemen of utility companies and countless blue-collar workers, if only to ensure uninterrupted delivery of basic services and essential needs.
Patriotic display of dedicated service lies also in our decision makers and prime movers -- both in government and private sectors -- who carefully crafted public health and economic policies and passionately execute strategic response initiatives like the enhanced community quarantine, social amelioration fund for the displaced and unemployed, massive procurement of PPE coupled with surgical masks, gloves and other necessary medical supplies.
Caveat, however, that in this fight, our public officials are expected to exercise their power with utmost humility and greater responsibility. As King Ragnar in Netflix series, “The Vikings,” said, “Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best. Power is only given to those who are prepared to lower down themselves to pick it up.”
And so with a display of patriotism at its best at a worst time by private individuals and companies. Their broader and significant participation has given a huge amount of relief by giving donations, spurring more food production, financial package relief to its employees and partners, extending or even condoning obligations plus interests and other creative and resourceful measures to mitigate the adverse impact of coronavirus.
At the end of the day, during the most deplorable times, we are measured by how we place service over passivity; generosity over greed and; others over self. For us to win, our inner values must prevail over the selfish desires of our hidden selves.
How long does it last is still uncertain -- a Black Swan. But out there are “Us” -- the White Swans -- who give hope and hands to help heal our land and rebuild our lives after everything shall have come to pass. In a critical world we now live, we still have faces that exude kindness and purity of heart, still beaming for a future ahead, however, uncertain it may be. For what is certain is we tied our hands together for a noble but challenging task ahead of us.
Lest we forget, family matters
Another faithful reminder during the corona crisis is the significance of family unity and solidarity. An instant family reunion of sort occurs at this time where we cherish good memories and refresh stories told -- about the difficulties endured, the dreams fulfilled, and wins celebrated. It is a re-enactment of family culture marked with favorite dishes prepared by a caring and loving mother while the provisions are being sustained by a tireless toil of a thoughtful father.
Staying at home is a throwback of family dialogue in the past where parents and children used to openly talk to each other, threshing out differences and solving problems together. During this family bonding, there occurred a blood encounter in a purest sense, our hope, love, and unity being the matching fluids to reunite us after long years of alienation and isolation from each other.
On the lighter side, corona virus brings us back to a family atmosphere we seldom savor, a crowning moment snatched away by a world pre-occupied with money-making, pursuit for fame and power and cut-throat competition, all made easy by the instrument of social media and digitalization.
While the world stops, the Mother Earth starts its own process of healing. Along with the slowdown of massive fuming of smokes from factories and endless emissions from millions of vehicles, come a clearer and bluer view of the wide sky. With the exodus of people from the streets and urban places to their houses either to stay or work at home, the carbon footprints have substantially reduced to an enormous proportion.
And the Mother Earth is healing, too
In my silent musings, I imagine that somewhere out there, a once shaved forest is now starting to sprout to its lushness. Overflowing streams, brooks and rivers once polluted and adulterated are now flowing freely drifting down to the ocean. Eroding mountains forming its shapes; losing fertile soils gaining its abundance.
Somewhere in the vastness of the earth, our unique and varied but endangered and extinguishing flora and fauna are now flourishing and chanting around the harmonious bionetwork. Our magnificent corals and astonishing aquatic resources destroyed and exhausted by greedy humans are now gaining a breathing space for regeneration and reproduction.
Staying at home during the quarantine period is an unconscious act of preserving a fundamental right to a balanced and healthful ecology and fulfilling our “inter-generational responsibility” (Landmark case of Oposa versus Factoran) where we represent our generation as well as generations yet unborn to “prevent the misappropriation or impairment of rainforests” and "arrest the unabated hemorrhage of the country's vital life support systems and continued rape of Mother Earth.”
While we are wrestling with corona virus, an intercourse for mutual healing between ailing humanity and decaying environment is serenely taking place in the universe.
The making of god of small things
The timeframe prescribed for stay-at-home gives us a dose of a slow-paced and mind-numbing life. But deep in my mind, it drives us into creative landscape, usually yielding to simple yet meaningful projects. Details displayed in ingenuity are more expressed under the atmosphere of monotony. A myriad of things to do while in quarantine may vary depending on your creative appetite.
Some with extra lot may go into gardening or ornament the verandah with hanging flowers. Others may enhance skill in carpentry or tap talent for interior designing. We can also develop talents in the area of arts and music or perhaps learn new language online. As for me, reading my favorite books will fill my cup and writing tidbits of wisdom will nourish my soul.
It is in this prolonged and agonizing isolation that we become god of small things where every detail yields a symbol of hope and love. It is in the details that we are able to appreciate the hidden human potential in us -- our creativity, talents and inner aspirations.
Health and happiness
At the core of the value proposition amidst this crisis is our mindset on health vis-à-vis our pursuit to happiness. In my book, “Higher Law,” it is worth to reiterate that “oftentimes we pushed ourselves up even exceeding our human limitations, puffing up with false pride that we can make everything possible, by whatever means even to compromise our health. Until we forget that the ultimate ends -- health and happiness -- are the very reasons why we perspire and get inspired every day, and not the money-making which is only a means to such grand purpose.”
This corona pandemic reminds us again that “we miserably forget that good health drives lives to greater heights. To espouse a healthy lifestyle is to create a balance of four significant human dimensions -- work or business, family, community and spiritual life. Good health bestows on us a better premium to become creative in all that we do and be passionate to bring about good results and meaningful changes in our lives. Good health ignites the power of dreams within us and propel us to transform dreams into reality. Thus, anything like corona virus that holds hostage of our health disrupts the stream of our collective dreams for better and prosperous life.
As we are healing as one world, what are we hoping for in the future?
I am posing a challenge onto myself and to everyone of what we can do for ourselves, our family, our country in a twin frame of time -- in the PRESENT, while we stay at home or (stay at work) and in the FUTURE, after recovery from this corona crisis.
Remember, amidst the depth of uncertainty comes the breadth of opportunity. (Manuel C. Gordon)