Greetings Earthlings:
As we take another trip around the sun I have heard so many complaints of how "2020 is the Worst Year Ever!" "I don't think I can take this any more!" "We're all Going to Die from the Covid!" "Bill Gates wants to steal our souls!" "The Whole Country is turning Communist!" "The Government is going to take everything we've worked for!" "Revelations People! Revelations!" Sheesh!
Social Media is a very powerful tool. I believe it's original intention was for ease of communication with a much quicker turn-around time. And I guess that is true. But there is also a darker side to it that I'm sure we are all very much well aware of. And we are really getting our brains filled now, unlike any other time in history!
I never really paid much attention to computers or the internet, for that matter, when it first became main stream. Hubby worked in a field office, so both the computer and the internet became very useful business tools. They would also became huge time sucks. Employees would email around jokes and cartoons and solitaire games. Suddenly there was entertainment at our very fingertips, literally, whenever we wanted it.
Society as a whole embraced the whole concept. We downloaded games. We mastered Spider Solitaire and Wheel of Fortune. Christmas cards began to be replaced by long winded Christmas Annual Reports (I am sorry to say that I bought into the laundry list of accomplishments of the day. Sorry 'bout that.) Emails replaced invitations and letters. There was even a program that was full of clip art to allow you to make unique invitations - unfortunately, everyone had the same program! You no longer had to go to the library to use the encyclopedia for homework! It was at home on a CD Rom. This was huge for us as our local library kept short hours and had limited resources.
Along came pagers, bag phones and the modern cell phone. Suddenly anyone could get ahold of anyone else at any time! Mom's were happy to keep better track of kids. Kids could find each other in moments instead of driving around all evening trying to round up a few others to hang out with. Employees realized that they were suddenly on an electronic leash as the employer could contact them any time, any place and you had to answer the phone since the company was paying for it.
Along the way people bought nicer clothes, more "toys", fancier cars, boss stereo systems that would fill a trunk, moved into "better" neighborhoods, ate out more, got a second job, took "vacations" instead of "trips", and so on.
Mom and Dad are both working and the kids are raising themselves or being entertained by the electronics, that the working parents are buying for the kids, to keep them busy, while Mom and Dad are at work.
Groceries are going up. Cars get more expensive. It's easier to eat out than make something at home, or to order in take out. We can't make coffee at home because we don't have time - we need to get to work, to make more money to buy more things, meals, fuel, clothes, home decor, electronics . . . We need to take a vacation from our lives because we are too busy to have family time, so we work harder, spend more time away, upgrade our i-phone because this one can't do any more upgrades.
We happily go about our busy lives, promising to spend more time, learn new skills, get more connected. But then, there's only so many hours in the day and Net Flicks is calling.
And then, the World Shut Down. And suddenly ALL there is is the internet.
And we get bombarded with conflicting information. And we have to stay home. Let this pass. We can't go out to get a coffee. We can't go out to pick up take out. We can't go out to go to work. And we didn't die. And we learned how to cook. We called our family. We played games with our kids. We learned a new skill. We stayed home.
What was to be two weeks suddenly became 3 months. And we have all managed. Add in some less than springlike weather, after a difficult winter and you really need to step back and assess the whole situation.
We thought we needed so much more money to cover our bills, when we realized that since we aren't out every day, running here and running there, picking up this and that, that we don't need quite so much. Even here, we didn't realize just how much we actually entertain, until we suddenly don't need to go to the grocery store for 6 weeks! And we aren't going through the toilet paper we used to! You don't burn any gas when you don't go anywhere. Which of course is lower now than it has been in decades!
After the first few weeks of decompressing from the busy-ness of life and wrapping our heads around not going anywhere or seeing anyone outside their housemates, many have found new passions. New ways to entertain themselves. Suddenly since being home and having their kids at home, many are rediscovering baking. There is a whole Sourdough movement happening. With the shortage of yeast and not being able to run out for a loaf of bread, many folks have adopted a very old method of bread baking. And loving it!
And gardens! Our local greenhouses report that they have Never in previous years, ever sold out before June 1st. By this time of the year, they are practically giving product away. But this year, everyone is interested in gardening again - not just for something to do, but for a bit of food security. After seeing the craziness of empty grocery store shelves in March and April, many became rightfully concerned about how they were going to feed their families. Now with time on their hands, people are rediscovering the joy of dirt and seeds. The joy of growing their own food.
I find it interesting how I would often hear that "I don't have time for that" or "I don't know How you do all you do!" Now suddenly, everyone I speak to wants to learn more. How do I bake a loaf of bread? How do I start a garden? Should I get chickens? How do you pressure can your stock? How do you make stock? Can you teach me?
Will this all last? Will people realize the value of time and re-prioritize their time, once this all comes to pass? Will they come away with a better understanding of what is truly valuable? Of what brings them joy? Will they have jobs to return to? Will they even care?
Their kids are sleeping better because they are less stressed. Mom and Dad aren't exhausted since they aren't trying to cram three days worth of activities into 1.5. The job that was so stressful, can amazingly suddenly be done from home or under new conditions. People aren't forced or shamed into going to work when they are sick. People aren't pressing their grocery carts up against you to get you to hurry it along. And no one is in an all fired hurry to go nowhere, fast.
The conspiracy theorists will continue their theories, just as they did in 1999 when the internet was going to shut down the world at the stroke of midnight. Then in 2012, the Inca calendar ran out of days, so the world was supposed to be ending on December 21. People cashed in their life's savings and racked up credit card debt since it wasn't going to matter anyways.
There have been plagues and pandemics since biblical times, including the Black Plague, Bubonic Plague, Eboli and so on. Up until the mid 1950's many suffered from Polio. Small Pox dates back to the 1300's. 1820 gave us the Cholera Outbreak. 1920 was the Spanish Flu.
2020 is just another year in the cycle. The viruses ran their courses and people got back to the business of life. This time will be no different. And the internet and news sources will continue to keep us informed or misinformed of how things are progressing.
It will be interesting to see how the next few months play out as the world opens up for business again. I, for one, will continue to gather eggs and tend my garden.
Until next time keep staying safe.
Warmest Regards,
Gremlynn
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