We have just ‘exited’ one of the greatest upheavals of our modern era – The Covid Pandemic. And how has Covid affected our psyche on a personal, national and global level?
I wonder about this a lot, perhaps more than is healthy, but as a ‘survivor’ I have an acute awareness of how I have been changed. Perhaps that is the best place to start.
- Since my three months forced rest and several years of recovery I can definitively say that I am changed. Sure my energy levels have returned to near normal, the brain fog has all but gone away and my curiousity about just about everything has returned. Along the way, though, I have learned some things about myself that might surprise you, they definitely surprised me!
- I am by nature somewhat gregarious, keen to have a bit of fun, BIG fan of puns and sly sarcasm. But the isolation of Covid has made me realize how much I value my time alone – and jealously protect it!
- I prefer silence to crowds.
- I don’t suffer fools as well as I used to.
- I am getting far better at avoiding getting sucked into pointless arguments.
- Long covid leaves lingering paranoia! I have to laugh at myself regularly to keep from dropping into conspiracy theories and the feeling someone is looking over my shoulder.
- I laugh less often than I ever did and find my taste in humour has become a bit more morbid.
Maybe this is just part of aging, but the isolation has taught me how easy it is to turn off on people, pull away and build a silo around the almighty ME. Is this what we are seeing in our world right now?
I work every day with GenX, Y and Z engineers. Now I have to admit that engineers by their nature are less empathetic than most people. We work 8:30 – 5pm, Monday to Friday. If a client issue arises at 4:45pm a Gen X or Y will dig in and solve the issue, whether it takes 10 minutes or 10 hours. Overtime will cover it. A GenZ will work til 4:55pm then go looking for a GenX or Y to ‘help’ them, disappearing into the night when the GenX or Y digs in.
On the surface that might be just my attitude towards GenZ but it is something shared with me often by GenX and Y! It isn’t laziness, GenZ are hard workers from 8:30 – 5, in general great people to work with – it is just that they have allocated their life into work time and me time! To those of us from the Jones, X and Y generations this takes some time to understand but once understood work life becomes much smoother – believe me!
But it does make me wonder (damn my curiousity!) whether what we mistake for a growing lack of empathy towards each other is in fact a changing of the worldview with each succeeding generation? Gen Z see their time as belonging to themselves explicitly rather than opportunities to join the village, whether through sports, entertainment or public service. Are we seeing a generation of isolationists developing in front of our eyes, seperated from the rest of our worldviews by that 3 x 6 inch piece of glass that seems to be constantly in front of their face?
As a parent I want to naturally assume the blame. Were we too permissive with cellphones at the dinner table? Or too willing to let our teenagers ‘explore their freedom’? Or acted as helicopter parents once too often? Did we teach our children the need to be part of the village in their terms? I dunno, we tried what was tried and true from our upbringing. I know mine was in the 60’s and 70’s when a lot of the established ‘life rules’ were being tossed out the window. Maybe that was what we passed along to our children – if the rules don’t fit toss them out the window!
Or was Covid the giant trigger to start a general upheaval of society? I suspect it will be at least a generation before we have any real answers to that.
Meantime I think it is time for some ‘me’ time. With Miss Frieda of course.
Cheers,
Mark
(Original image by geralt at pixabay.com)