With ominous predictions of 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the US alone, and the worst possibly ramping up in the next few weeks, many people are starting to experience feelings of dread. Life has been altered into an almost nightmarish state. For those who have been personally affected by the virus, the nightmare is all too real.
Loss of family members, illness, complications from the disease, loss of income, (unemployment number predictions don’t look very good at this time) and trying to defend against an invisible menace wears heavy on many.
For some, this may seem like a weird sort of holiday. Those who feel they are immune to the worst of the disease may have rude awakenings if it turns out that they are not. For others, this may seem like a major inconvenience, which of course it is – death is usually a permanent inconvenience.
The after affects will be felt for years, not just financially, but emotionally. This generation that experiences this world event will always have the possibility of another even worse crisis lurking just around the corner. Truly a wake up to the long slumber since the last global struggle.
Spiritual awakenings, strange cryptic dreams, and premonitions where time and space seem-totally out of wack may be affecting some, but not everyone. All the hard rock and heavy metal some of us listened to in our youth has inadvertently prepared many for these times. Things are getting weird, just like we all knew they would. Here we are staring into our computer screens. Millions of users are working from home on Windows 10 machines – did Bill Gates foresee this shift into the future? I’ll bet he did.
Your computer and Internet connectivity are now the advantages that separate those who can work or learn from home during quarantine, and those who can’t.
Maybe our ultimate preparation for the next epic challenge should be improving our telecommunication infrastructure and dispersal to rural and remote parts of the country. Connect the areas that have limited or no Internet access. Passing out free money to have the recipients just (p*$$) it away doesn’t seem quite as productive.
The rush to stock up on goods is a preview to what an even bigger crisis would be. Right now the lights are on, the Internet is working, TV, radio, food, and fuel are still readily available…..but what if they weren’t? We all have a primitive fear of the dark. Somewhere deep in our minds, we know that when the lights go out, bad things happen.
This current situation is bad, but it could be worse. Most of us will get through this. The lessons we learn during this event should not be discarded as soon as we can start eating at fast-food restaurants again. I’m sure a lot of people will have a better appreciation for normality …whatever your definition of that is.