A walk through the apocalyptic park (again), now covered in white
Diary of a digital nomad trapped by the coronavirus pandemic in Sofia, Bulgaria. 24th of March.
For decades, we thought we were invincible. We got used to the fast pace of the digital age. Instagram, traffic jams, Netflix, food delivery apps. We got used to the fact that we imposed our rules on the world around us.
This coronavirus pandemic has shown us that this is no longer true. It has forced countries to close borders, isolate cities and regions, and has paralyzed the global economic system. People are trapped inside their homes, scared to go outside. Businesses are going bankrupt, oil is at its minimum in decades… It may have even proved that we can stop climate change, or even revert it.
We have discovered we are not invincible anymore. Antibiotics won’t save us, not even guns, the holy grail of the North American society, will help them escape the consequences of this pandemic.
No, I think if something positive is coming from this crisis, apart from the positive consequences for the planet, it is that we need to rethink our place in the world. I believe this pandemic is going to be an inflection point for our society. I am just not sure if it’s going to be in a good direction or not.
In times of crisis is when authoritarian forces try to undermine liberties and rights, taking advantage of collective fear. Let’s hope China won’t become an example to follow, but democratic countries such as South Corea which dealt with the problem in a more open and effective way, in my opinion.
Isn’t much that I feel I need,
Animal Collective – My Girls
A solid soul and the blood I bleed…
This WILL change us…
But above all, I think this situation will change us forever on a personal level. At least, it will change me. I have talked about this before when discussing stoicism, but we need to realize that most of the things we think we need, the belongings we own, or the stuff we want, are not that essential. We don’t need that much to be happy. Just a solid soul, and the blood we bleed, as the song affirms.
Yesterday I watched some “Love it or list it” and I had a good laugh. It reminded me of this episode of the Simpsons when Krusty says “My house is dirty, buy me a clean one”. Seriously… why a couple whose children have finally moved out needs a house with three bathrooms and three bedrooms? Have we become so spoiled as a society that we don’t see this as something comical?
Maybe it is this same mentality which prevented Italy or Spain to take measures in time. Tourism and economic aspects came in first, and it is sad to see that the same story happened with the Spanish flu in 1918. Perhaps being trapped home for ten days now is making me overthink things 🤷‍♂️.
Today we went to the supermarket to buy some milk and bread. As there is a park on our way there, we decided to take a small walk. The air was cold and chilly, and the city looked like the scenery of a zombie film or a post-apocalyptic novel. Today there were 17 new cases here in Bulgaria. Not a lot, but it has broken a descending three-days strike.
Still hoping they will get this under control.
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