As Our Planet Rests, We Must Reset

It’s hard when you feel powerless in the middle of all of this.

This pandemic has us all at the height of fear. With thousands of people being infected with COVID-19 and thousands more dying every day, we fear for the health of not only ourselves, but also our loved ones.

That fear is already a heavy burden, but it’s compounded with the pressure of no longer having access to the things we need to survive. We’ve lost vital parts of the structures that we relied upon everyday, whether for money, health, or otherwise, and now even confined between the walls of our homes, we can’t feel safe.

Even in the midst of a global crisis, we must worry about how we will pay our bills.

To some, that statement is deeply disturbing. To others, that statement doesn’t register before the panic takes over.

Panic comes when we’re faced with situations that threaten the safety of ourselves and those we love. Our survival instincts kick in and we know we must decide quickly what’s worth the risk and what’s not. We scramble to figure out a plan to make ends meet.

The ones who become disturbed question the values of living in a society that finds it normal to have to choose between the health of themselves and their loved ones or not being able to eat and keep their home.

It gives you a clear look of how the leaders around the world care for their people. Is the value of a human life more important than diving deeper into debt?

What happens if that answer is no? What happens if your leaders care more about the value of a dollar than the value of your life? How many other things are detrimental in our societal structures that we assumed were in our best interests?

If you’ve watched National Geographic’s One Strange Rock, you’ll notice that there are lots of different ingredients necessary to keep everything running smoothly, which creates an environment for many species to survive and thrive.

When things aren’t running smoothly, it can offset the entire planet. This includes our own environment that depends on the planet to run in a predictable way so we can sustain ourselves.

That’s the thing, though—our lives have never been predictable. The earth at any point can change into something we had not anticipated. Space is unpredictable, nature is unpredictable, and though the likelihood of a disaster may be extremely low, it’s never impossible.

As we’re forced to slow down, the time we have right now should be a time of reflection. To understand that even though we can’t prevent all danger from occurring, we need to work together to have structures in place to do the best we can. We must not bank on having excess amounts of time to deal with certain problems and as a society hold our leaders accountable to care for the health of our communities and for the health of our planet to prevent this or other problems from occurring.

We must also look at our own internal environments.

How can we show more appreciation to the things we took for granted?

If we take away the idea of having all the time in the world, how do we want to spend those moments?

If we now recognize the delicate balance our earth hangs in, what can we do to create more stability in the environment?