In the Wake of COVID-19

The healing benefits of a global health crisis

By Salma Muftah

I can't imagine that anyone would be talking about anything but COVID-19 in meetings, phone calls, family dinners, or reports. It has seemingly engulfed our lives and everything in them—the majority of the world is on pause.

However, this isn't to say that any of the other pre-existing issues and tragedies going on in the world have stopped. Now more than ever, the coverage of those to whom the world turns a blind eye has slowed. We haven't stopped to reflect on our shortcomings or errors beyond our insufficient resources and timing. Now that we are forced to halt our normal daily lives, isn't it time to take a step back and look with our eyes and hearts at our individual and collective lives as a society?

I'm not here to say that the world is dark, heartless, selfish, and cruel. On the contrary, some of the darkest times have brought out light and humanity from among us. Some of us have become united, forgoing the differences that divide us, and that is beautiful, inspiring, and uplifting amidst all the chaos.

Yet I yearn to dig deeper for an outcome that is longer-lasting and more profound. It has been amazing to see people trying to make the best of the situation, like starting that book that they didn't have the time for, or sitting back at the keyboard and wiping months or years of dust off their instruments, or those who now have the time to indulge in painting or drawing. How about those who now can enjoy crafting culinary masterpieces for themselves and their loved ones? The list goes on. Any activity or passion that each one of us has, or has wanted to try, is finding its time to shine after sitting silently and patiently on the shelf for so long.

 Besides art, workouts, and crafts, it is also a time for planning futures, playing games, spending time with family, and cleaning. Yes, cleaning. Some of us are physically cleaning our spaces, and if you've ever cleaned any space, whether it be your room or that one little drawer, then you know how good it feels when you get it over with. So what about when we clean our minds and hearts? What about decluttering the one thousand and one thoughts that dart across our minds and are pushed to the back of our conscience, only to come out again every so often when it's most inconvenient? What have we been putting off addressing under the excuse of not having enough time? Whatever it is, now might be the time to let those thoughts unravel and to not only reflect, but to take a look into ourselves at what characteristics, bad habits, or tendencies we have that we can change. This time of chaos can be a time of a change—good change. We should take it as a wake-up call, a reminder to remember our humanity, to hone our skills for good, to find that we are not alone. Maybe just as the canals in Venice and the air quality have improved under the coronavirus quarantine, we can take this time to purify ourselves so that we too come out of this not only healthier physically, but also mentally and emotionally.