There is no denying that our world, as we have known it, has been turned upside-down. People all over the globe are scrambling to find their footing after the earth underneath them opened up and transported them to a reality they have only seen in the movies. No discrimination — rich and poor, famous and not-so-famous, all colors, all genders, all races, all nationalities — we are all in the same boat. We are all in this together. We are all subject to being the next in line to face the grim treatment of the novel COVID-19 invading our system.
What I have found fascinating is to observe how people’s perspectives about this collective life-shattering experience vary. Many are craving for things to get back to normal so they can go on with their lives as before. Others are reminding us that the way we used to live is no longer sustainable. Think of climate change, biodiversity loss, overpopulation, habitat destruction, and deforestation, to name a few. We have been given warning signals for decades, but we have mostly chosen to ignore them.
And then there is our overconsumption. As overpopulated humanity, drunk on overconsumption, we have extracted and pillaged from our Mother Earth like there was no tomorrow. We have roamed around in stupors of ignorance and self-centeredness as we have felt superior to all other living beings. Our awareness of our behavior, adverse impacts, and long-term consequences have been like a flickering light that mostly goes dim. And now we are in a race to save humanity.
Coming back to the coronavirus, of course, we need to heal, and we need to grieve. Grieve the loss of lives, the loss of physical connectedness, loss of livelihood, loss of opportunities, loss of events, loss of adventures. And I also believe we need to wake up. Wake up from our stupor of ignorance. Wake up and realize that the evolution of consciousness is moving forward with or without us. We’d better be awake to move forward with it, and to learn, grow, and change. And we need to replace our extractive ways of being with nurturing, life-giving, and compassionate behavior and to expand from sustainability to regeneration in all ways. Let’s replace our extractive consumerism with a regenerative, collaborative, and co-creative world.
Apart from the fear we have of getting sick, of dying, of losing a loved one, or losing our standing in society, there is also the fear that we will repeat what happened after 9/11. That the reflection and remembrance of what’s important to us now will simply wash away as we get back to what we call “normal.” What to do? I believe we DO have a choice. We can choose the red pill and have the unpleasant truth of the state of the world revealed to us in no uncertain terms. Or we can choose the blue pill and remain in our blissful ignorance.
What do you choose? Your power — TRUE Power — is in the red pill!