A SMALL VIRUS HAS CHANGED OUR LIFE: FOREVER?-Daniela Terrile

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Un piccolo virus ha cambiato la nostra vita e per sempre– formato pdf versione in italiano

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It has paralyzed the economic and social life of 177 countries and started a sanitary catastrophe of which the national and world balance is alarming. 

From a professional and personal point of view, several are the consequences and reactions that the “knowing field” unfolded and manifested.  Privileged people did not lose their job and salaries and where able to continue to work, some others lost their job, health and they were forced to stop, to withdraw. Some lost everything.

Therefore, we can say that nothing has changed for some, and that everything has changed for others.  Is it fine? 

I would say that despite the fact that some people lost everything and some others had no major risks, not always the equation is a balance one. Among those who did not apparently lose their jobs, health and common privileges, still they are experiencing problems. On the contrary, those who should be scared because lost everything, probably took some radical decision and changed their life style

So:

• What are the hidden dimensions that changed our life? 
• Can we define what exactly changed and forced us to activate silent resources inside us?

Undoubtedly, we started to ask ourselves some questions:

• How do we live? 
• What habits are conducting our lives?
• What is the style of our relationships?
• Are we able to live alone?
• How do we live when we are completely isolated?

No coffee, no chat with friends at the resto, no human contact and exchange? In addition, what else? 

The experience of confinement was a personal challenge for the existence of those who suffer in poverty, isolation, and psychological issues.  Some constraints of confinement have pushed people to start their personal “quest” on the quality of their life, i.e. their needs, their aspirations, and co-dependencies.

Another challenge has been to review the human beings “myth” that we can control nature and our destiny. This myth has been already touched upon, when discussing about ecological disasters, fires, and the use we do of our Mother Earth’s resources.  So human progress, technological discoveries, and economic growth are actually going against our own interest. Moreover, can we really confirm that human beings will control everything through artificial intelligence?

Let us not forget that a small virus has put our world and in most of the cases, our lives KO. Moreover, maybe we could ask ourselves, who did put our world KO? The virus? Or our reaction to it?

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Another challenge is the uncertainty. Our relationships have changed, so far. We do not trust anymore, we need to protect us all the time. Again, I wonder if we really believe that we are still the “controller” of the world. Good question.

Therefore, some other questions could be:

• How can I control myself, to control the others (for their safety? Or for my own one, or for both)? 

• How far do I believe that I am under control, that everything is fine inside me? Can I really trust the out world?

• How far can I keep controlling, cleaning, disinfecting and discharge things, people, containers, food, and water and so on?

Impossible mission. So finally, life is and adventure and it is full of adversities and uncertainties. COVID19 has one more time underlined our vulnerability.

So next question is: 

• How well we are in manifesting our vulnerability?
• How far are we aware that death is a possibility?

This virus has cruelly reminded that death is part of our life and that we encounter unpredictable changes.  Confinement has kept people alone, especially those who were dying. 

I have some questions to reflect and ponder about:

• How much we leave alone those who are different, those who suffer while we are at work? 
• How do we react in front of those cases where people manifest difficulties and are not so “resilient” to what is happening around them?

Confinement has tragically confined us at home. We have drastically changed our way of manifesting civilization (or the so-called “civilization”):

• Bar closed, resto closed. Publicity is soliciting us to buy all the time. What happened when shops were closed and we could not buy? 
• Is this really a civilization?
• Is it so important to buy all the time and consume?

Therefore, when people state that they are finally happy to go back to normality, I have another question.

• Was it normal before?
• Do we want to go back to “this kind of normality”?

We sometimes forget how much we are lucky and how much we are privileged.

• Are we aware of these privileges?
• Are we aware of this kind of confinement with respect to those who have a different kind of salary and privilege in the world?

In a systemic approach, crises are necessary to adjust the system, to get rid of some old strategies that are very inappropriate and are making the system dying: which means indirectly that the system is still alive, and is willing to survive and move forward.

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Therefore, this crisis could indicate that something in the system is old, that something new is emerging, and uncertainty and vulnerability are necessary; they are actually an opportunity to understand how to let go of “the old” and let “the new” emerge. When the system is organic and well balanced, the crisis is the symptom  that something is changing and it is a good think to let it grow. In our world where procedures and mechanism are the foundation of our structure, the big challenge will be to understand the benefit of the differences we have inside, our vulnerability, our crisis.

What else we have not respected during this crisis:

• What are the rules that we do not respect?
• Whom we have excluded from the system?
• What is unbalanced between giving and taking?

 

Covid 19 is an opportunity to come back to value our unicity, to a more human condition; only each of us can see at his/her own situation to understand where changes are needed. The awareness of being part of a human community.

 

Daniela Terrile