Like a boat that passes...

Emile Claus, La Bateau qui passe
1883

There will be days the world feels so very sad and heavy.
Yet it is on those days we must raise and recognise all the strength we possess.
And it is those days we need to take an extra moment to break off a piece of ourselves, a piece lost forever.
It is those days we must allow this piece to fall to shattering bits, for we are people without any superhuman gifts.
But it will be those pieces, like naked seeds in spring, that will grow to something more beautiful than ever before.

******

For a world quite confident and controlled, how do we address the unknown? For a world quite beautiful, how do we address the ugliness? How do we address hourly updates of numbers of new infections and deaths in the news, how to cope with statements that we will lose beloved people in the course of this? How to understand that it is estimated a success if we fall below a number of twenty thousand people who have died of Coronavirus in Germany when this is over? How do we manage shortages in food supplies, how to address possible mass unemployment and deep concerns and anxieties by nearly everyone all across that world of ours? How can we hold back our tears?

It is hard to find the words for it. It is hard to move on when your heart is sinking, when the only thing you want is having back the sunshine. It is difficult when you are supposed to make it through, when you are supposed to go through the motions of daily routine, when it is you who is expected to be positive all the time, to have a smile on your face and that beautiful sparkle in your eyes.

The thing is, this is entirely impossible. A bacterium, not even visible to a microscope, has disastrously laid open the fragility and vulnerability of us as the individual persons we are and altogether as a species. Highly developed countries, epitomes of power and economic vitality in normal days, have been brought to their knees by a wreath-like microorganism.  A microorganism truly indiscriminate to skin colour, gender, class, money, or our nationalities, has hit the pause button of our world. It is a virus that confidently ignores all borders we have put between countries, a virus that easily destroys or climbs the walls we also have personally built between one another.

It might sound wrong and maybe naïve to some of you, but the shocking reality is that this is exactly our chance. As unbelievable as it sounds, the Coronavirus has brought us together, and only together we can tackle this. Only together we can be successful in our desperate fight that looks forlorn on so many days of trying to understand what is happening to us right now. We are defeated if we give up hope, first and foremost. We are beaten if we do not learn from this; a greater catastrophe than the virus would be refusing to thrive from it. These learnings range from responding to risks earlier, acknowledging the urgent need of finally listen to the outcry of the health services and elderly cares in the countries that went unheard for so many years, to learning about ourselves and the improvements anyone of us has perhaps to achieve.

It is often said that our true characters and our ability to see others are revealed when the chips are down, when circumstances get close to unbearable. So, please reflect on yourselves, just for a moment. Be the one who supports, and not the one whose world rotates on its own axis. Try to be helpful in a variety of unsexy ways, where absolutely nothing is expected in return. Step back for those who need more. Be kind to everyone around you. Be nice to those close to you and make their day good. All of us, also our children, are confused and maybe intimidated by the events surrounding us. But most importantly, make also a little time for yourself, care for yourself as well. Because we all deserve to be the best version of us, no matter how challenging it will get.  Be yourself but look after yourself too, and I promise you that you will feel the tiny sparkle of magic and uplift this offers. More than that, the people you love and care for will benefit from it immensely.

And just like the boat in the painting I have chosen today, the bad times shall pass. Believe in it and in yourself.

A big and massive shoutout to the staff at the frontline. You are risking your lives for us, thank you to all of you. My heart goes out to you as well.