Heroes Not Zombies

In the midst of this pandemic many people are beginning to despair. People are asking questions like “Is this the new normal?”, or “Is it always going to be this way now?”

My hunch is…in response to both these questions….no.

Sure, as we look ahead it can seem like we see more of the same as far as we can see. We humans are great at spotting patterns, but we’re often not so great at letting go of them.

We turn repetitions into habits and rituals. Habits into ruts. Rituals into blinkers. We see the future as being full of what we are seeing in the present. And, maybe, in many cases things can seem like this. But the truth is these repetitions, these habits, these already noticed and entrenched patterns are never permanent.

In the history of the planet there hasn’t been an epidemic, or a pandemic, which didn’t go away. I’m not saying the coronavirus will go away, but like pretty much every other bug, it’ll settle in at a lower level. The pandemic will give way to background presence with outbreaks and flares…much the same way as influenza, colds, and even serious diseases like Ebola. Look what’s happened with HIV? Aids hasn’t gone away but learning how to minimise its spread and discovering better ways to treat it has transformed the part it plays in the world now.

So, I remain optimistic, even if there are days when I’m feeling quite despairing. Who knows how long it will be till it all quietens down, and who knows just what the “new normal” will look like when that time comes?

We just have to be wary of getting stuck into the thought patterns which blind us to the nature of Life – a complex, emergent phenomena which is constantly changing and developing, going ways it’s never gone before.

Life is adaptive and creative. It never just keeps on behaving the way it always used to.