Is kindness a comorbidity of the Coronavirus?
All viruses have complicated constellations of systemic symptoms and effects.
COVID- 19 is undoubtedly horrid with catastrophic health, economic and societal impacts. Yet, some of its inadvertent effects appear to be just what our world so desperately needed.
Challenging times bring out the best, and the worst, of human nature.
When threatened, the fight or flight response emerges with instinctual protective mechanisms to protect one's own.
Segregation and “theirs vs ours”; a scarcity mindset.
In Australia, we have all seen this first hand with toilet paper hoarding, social stigma and violence emerging over basic everyday necessities.
Whilst this unsettling and upsetting, there is beauty rising from the ashes.
In western society, social isolation was already ever-present, but simply by our own creation in self-imposed vacuums. Tailored by technology and our own prerogatives. Knowing one's neighbours was something we would only see on TV shows.
Yet now, this worldwide wake-up call in the form of a virus sees many of us breaking free from our bubbles, and rebirthing the most beautiful of human behaviours at scale;
Kindness. Connection. Community
Despite the terrible trigger; people are now reaching out to strangers and checking in. Concern and united adversity are creating widespread connection and neighbourly affection.
Support is no longer just a service for technology troubleshooting. Connection is proving more than just Bluetooth and Wifi. Acts of generosity without endless strings attached. And “Community” has again become an essential, not just a marketing buzzword.
With pandemics such as climate change, depression, and social isolation on the rise, it's glaringly obvious that these are what our world has been so desperately lacking. And with which, we as a race can be far better off.
So, as we overcome this insidious illness together - let's try to hold on to these.
After all, they are the best tools we have.
Not just against disease, but for every challenge in life.
