I’m not doing so great – coronavirus, climate collapse and fear of the future

6

May 11, 2020 by Cláudia

Over the past two weeks, I’ve written several drafts to post – some of them quite interesting and relevant to current issues, if I may say. But none of them felt appropriate for this exact moment. For now, I don’t really want to discuss current issues critically. I need some time to be heartbroken. So I decided to write this short note instead, let’s call it a heart-to-heart, because I think we all need to collectively take some time to mourn everything we’ve lost.

Every life that has been prematurely taken. Every family that has been broken. All the individual heartbreak behind daily statistics.

The sacrifice of healthcare professionals, who are completely burned out, risking their lives and wellbeing (both physical and mental), and facing some real tough decisions.

The lost normalcy. The lost rituals. The lost day to day life. A carelessness that almost seems naive now.

The lost close physical social contact. Hugs. Social gatherings.

 

Even though I ‘m extremely privileged, my life has still changed dramatically.

I miss long walks in nature. I miss close proximity. I miss friends and family.

I have not been doing so well. And that’s okay.

We’re living a period of collective trauma that is unprecedented for many of us.

I have been feeling cumulatively fearful about the current situation: not only the current public health crisis, but especially about what will happen to our “normality” because of it.

Crises are usually followed by dramatic change, which can go either way: socially responsible ambitious plans that put people over profit or disaster capitalism responses that accentuate corporate power and minority oppression. Millions around the world are left with no job or income, inequalities are being cruelly emphasised, racist and misanthropic discourses are becoming normalized. Governments are planning massive bailouts for polluting industries and bank rescues, while the number of people living below the poverty line starkly increases.

Climate action has been alarmingly absent from public discourse and policies. Extreme climate events are still occurring (in fact it is predicted that this year will be the warmest since record), but they are now worryingly in the background.

2020 was supposed to be the first year of a decade of profound transformations. Decade zero. By 2020 We Rise Up.

And apparently it is. Yet I now deeply worry about what those transformations will entail.

Is this the moment we have been waiting for to finally begin the changes that we need to build a world that is not only inhabitable for future generations but much more fair and humane?

Or is this the beginning of the triumph of corporate power, capital and hate discourse?

I don’t know.

I also don’t know exactly what to do to fight for the world I dream of. 

But I think, for the present moment, that is okay. It is okay that I’m worried. It is okay that I am lost. It is okay to mourn. It is okay to take time.

Take care of yourselves and each other. I hope to be back soon with my full-strength.