And Now For Some Good News

Articles and insights on COVID-19 are largely negative in nature, as is only fitting with a looming reality that threatens the global economy and health.  These are challenging times in which we must be aware and cautious as we proceed.

But that’s not all that’s going on.  In the midst of perhaps the greatest challenge in a generation come countless accounts of remarkable inspiration, dedication and good news.  COVID-19 not only prompted them but couldn’t destroy them, despite its lethality.  Here are some.  Time to be inspired – COVID-style.

• In communities throughout the world, citizens have gathered on an ad-hoc basis in parks, streets, in front of hospitals and health centres, fire and police stations and social service agencies to bang pots and pans, hold up posters and sing songs – all in support of those in front line essential and emergency work.  These are remarkable displays of public awareness of just how crucial all these people and organizations have become to the centrality of our lives.
• Numerous virus tests are underway in labs around the world in hopes that a cure for CORONA might be forthcoming.  Though still likely some way off, it’s a sign that global collaboration might yet prove the ultimate solution to what ails us.
• British World War Two veteran Tom Moore raised over one million British pounds for his country’s health service despite turning 100 during this crisis. In recognition of his remarkable efforts, he is about to be knighted – an honour he never saw coming.
• Around the world, families are rediscovering one another.  Confined in smaller spaces has given rise to severe cases of cabin fever, but for millions of families it has permitted them to be reintroduced to one another, to share, to help out, to enjoy family pursuits in ways that haven’t happened since childhood.  This isn’t always the case, naturally, but it is for countless families, and the blessings of family, of kin, of togetherness are being discovered anew.
• And for millions, life has slowed down.  More people are spotted walking in their neighbourhoods while still respecting social distancing guidelines.  Streets are quieter. School bells still ring but there is no rush from the schoolyard to the entrance door.  Working from home has brought a quieter place and perhaps a more fulsome mix of professional and domestic life.
• CNN reports that people in Punjab, northern India are able to see the Himalayas for the first time in decades due to the lack of pollution.  Emissions are down across the globe, as is power usage.  Bloomberg reports that while cars killed some 6,000 pedestrians in the U.S. last year and air pollution from those same vehicles killed 200,000 more, both numbers have fallen during the pandemic.
• Donations to charities have gone through the roof.
• The comments by Queen Elizabeth II during the crisis have been object lessons on how to believe in one another, in our countries, in our duties and responsibilities as citizens in the modern era.  She first started doing it over 70 years ago and continues with an impeccable touch when it comes to crises.  She still has the ability to elevate her nation’s spirits, as well as in other places around the world.
• Our cities and towns have changed, sometimes for the better.  Perhaps without realizing it, we are behaving more sustainably.  We bike more, walk more, give more.  We attempt to support our politicians and administrations in their struggles to cope and we value our hospitals and healthcare workers more now than ever.  In numerous dimensions, we are discovering the potential for just being human together.
• People are singing again.  It’s true.  From balconies, in front of hospitals, on Zoom calls and in neighbourhoods, music has again become more than entertainment, but the essence of how humanity supports, consoles and understands itself.
• And, yes, the cast of Friends is about to reunite.

There are thousands and thousands of such stories.  Perhaps whoever is reading these words can recount their own blessings.

The story of COVID19 is primarily a negative and scary one.  But humanity finds its way through the fissures and cracks of even a pandemic and it is these events that will help us find our way to a better future.  The key is for each of us to be part of that narrative, to create our own acts of transcending the darkness.