Covid19 and Relationships

Originally, I was thinking about how Covid19 has affected many people's understanding of their relationship to the world.  There are more realizing the interaction that we have with nature, and that it is not just the dominance of humankind as many had thought before.  But Covid19 has affected all relationships, and probably more of us are spending close time with our immediate family.  A lot of us are thinking about our friends and how much we are looking forward to spending time with them again.  Perhaps some are missing going to the store, especially us Americans.

One of the things we probably think the least about though is our relationship with life.  This week, Wisconsin Public Radio's program Chapter A Day has been reading Henry David Thoreau's Walden.  There was a man who pondered the meaning of life all the time.  And someone who tried to live it to the fullest.  He also understood that our meaning of life was uniquely independent and wouldn't begin to suggest he understood what your meaning was but only suggest you don't just go about living your life in the mold that your family and society have crafted for you.

Another idea about our relationship with life which recently caught my attention was a Vox article about China and wet markets.  It's a great article and I highly encourage people to read it.  The pictures alone give a great deal of understanding to wet markets and why understanding them are difficult.  In particular though was one man's comment about the wet market which really struck home with me.  It was the comment that wet markets are what helped produce color in his life, because otherwise it was a life stuck in the office full of the stagnant behavior one finds in most offices, with little meaning other than to get the job done, and that that meaning is more important than the meaning of your life. 

So it is wishful thinking I know.  Some say that Covid19 will change the world.  From what I've seen of people, most will go back to living life as close to normal as possible once the restrictions are let down.  But I hope that at least a few more will use the opportunities learned from this experience to live their life more uniquely.