It is most evident how much we take for granted. Shaking hands, hugging, spending time with family and friends, travelling to other countries, and helping without fear are some of them. This pandemic is a very real and very scary threat so we have quickly learned to adapt our activities and behaviours to make health and security the top priority. The reality of this infectious and fatal disease has made us cautiously optimistic that things will get better if we all do our part.
“Mostly we have learned that
life is precious.”
We are discovering who we truly can be as a society. We have such great capacity for compassion and empathy as evidenced by frontline workers. We have learned how to cultivate courage and strength as we watch families connecting with loved ones in long term care facilities and seniors’ residences. Sheltering in place has given us the ability to be more imaginative with our time. We have been inspired to explore our own creative abilities by the many individuals sewing masks, making face shields and companies repurposing factories and tools to make much-needed ventilators and PPE for medical personnel.
Mostly we have learned that life is precious. We have learned that we benefit from living in the here and now, spending more time for ‘being’ instead of always ‘doing.’ We have learned to slow down, simplify our lives, and become more aware of the interconnectedness of all life. From that perspective, we can appreciate each new day and all of life.
- Grace McGuire, Associate of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, Pembroke, Ontario