A MOMENT OF REFLECTION AND EMPATHY

At a time in which human suffering can no longer be offhandedly ignored, it is no wonder why so many of us have already begun to feel the cruel pull of despair so heavily.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died terrifying deaths, succumbing to an enemy we can always observe but never truly understand. An organism with the ability to tear us apart from the inside, use us as a breeding ground, then burst out in search of a new host, is one inherently incomprehensible to the human mind.

In the relatively short amount of time since quarantine initiatives became mandatory for us, we have grown tired of wiping down surfaces in vain. We long for the time when we could leave our homes without coarse masks, feeling like restraints upon our face. We regretfully remember that we took for granted the days where we did not dread so much reading the news. As privileged as we are to live in a first-world country with governance decent enough to at least ensure some amount of stability, we still feel our psyches being pulled toward to panic.

Little by little, whether or not we may feel it, our minds struggle to endure the everyday toll, now completely infected by grief.

By no means would this be the first time an entire generation would have to suffer through such a mental fallout: Individuals born around the 1930s famously continue to excessively practice shopping and/or savings habits developed from their childhood necessity for frugality.

Thus, even after the pandemic has been relatively forgotten and the shock having worn off years from now, we might still shudder upon hearing a loud cough. Or look around nervously for the source of a threatening sneeze.

The unfortunate reality of a world now so interconnected by media is the fact that any one individual likely has already been exposed to at least dozens of video-, audio-, and photograph-captured individuals fighting for their lives. Before, moments so painfully personal were witnessed only by medical professionals and loved ones. Now, everyone is cursed with the possibility of seeing for ourselves a fellow human who may have lived in joy and laughter pass on, in fear and immense discomfort.

Most of us are trying our best in an environment that now feels that much farther away from being truly safe. Most of us are doing what we can to ensure the best possible health for those around us.

Despite irresponsibly performed disagreements becoming more prevalent (and public) in recent weeks, our minds should still be focused on lessening or eliminating many others’ potential pain, at all costs – however unavoidable any amount of damage we sustain ourselves might just be.