History Repeats Itself
My favorite subject has always been history. I even chose my language arts classes based off of the historical periods I'd be reading about. #homeschoolingperks
The 20th century, specifically the depression and the world war two era, held my attention. I must've read a hundred or so books about that time period. Non fiction, fiction, full blown history books, you name it, I've probably read it. I was borderline obsessed. For some reason I was extremely intrigued by not only how everything got as bad as it did, but how the people who lived through it all felt. I'd spend hours pouring through personal accounts and diaries from little girls in the 40's. I even managed to interview two world war two veterans just months before they each passed away. You could say I enjoyed the learning, but really, I just wanted to know people's stories.
How does one react when everything you've ever known is stripped from you?
How does one feel when you aren't exactly sure where your next meal or job is coming from?
How does one feel when they know they can't provide for their children anymore?
How does one feel when they've never worked in their lives, but their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons are shipped off and they're forced to contribute?
What would it even look like to contribute to a war effort?
Looking back I think the reason that I was so darn intrigued, was because I thought that we could never again, as an American society, live through that type of experience again. Boy was I wrong.
What I didn't know was that there's some things bigger than war.
There are some things that we have absolutely zero control over, but because of our American privilege, we often don't have to confront them.
When I first became aware of the Corona virus, I figured it was just another Ebola or Zika. It would be prevalent, but it wouldn't shut anything down. I thought it would mostly take people down in countries that didn't have the same type of sanitation practices that we have here and that would be the last we heard of it.
But then things started spreading. And I started researching and it hit me what was really going on. I knew we were about to live through another major historical event, one that we have not experienced since the likes of 9/11.
I can't lie, at first I was very afraid.
How would our country react?
What we stoop to our typical entitlement and every-man-for-himself mentality?
Would anyone contribute to the “war” effort?
Would families stick together?
I've often read that the one thing that got people through the Depression and WW2 was the camaraderie and community.
Everyone was going through the same thing at the same time.
Everyone was affected.
Everyone was in a bad place.
So therefore, everyone sympathized and everyone contributed.
It wasn't every man for themselves, because neighbors and communities relied on each other to stay alive.
I didn't think that was possible for our country anymore.
I didn't think that we had that kind of heart anymore.
I mean it's hard to see when most of the time we're staring at our phones, tearing people apart in the media and doing our own thing.
But I've been surprised these past few weeks.
Delightfully really.
In the midst of this hardship, in the midst of the sorrow and a lot of death,
I have seen families who were falling apart, come back to life because they are together.
I have seen children rediscover what it means to play outside and explore their imaginations. I mean really, one can only spend so many hours watching toy unboxing on YouTube.
I have seen companies donate their time, resources and equipment to meet the needs of medical personnel.
I have seen organizations and individuals come together to meet the needs of those who have been laid off.
I have seen church online attendance double, triple and quadruple because their programs are available for anyone at anytime online.
I have seen mothers and fathers band together to teach their children, create masks for their local hospitals and do extra shopping for the elderly who cannot.
I have seen teachers drop everything and reroute to teach their sweet students from a camera. They're completely out of their comfort zone (and pay grade) but they're doing it for their kids.
I have seen schools and local governments still supply food for children and families in need.
So yes, it feels like the world is falling apart right now. Yes, it feels like a lot of people are turning on each other and pointing fingers and screaming. Yes, we are (still) making everything political.
But wow America, have we reached a turning point.
For the first time in a LONG time, we care about something and someone other than ourselves. We care about banding together and being unified. We care about our families and our friends suriving.
The world is not ending, it's healing.
The world is not scared, it's being wise.
The world is not as broken as we thought it was.
When we take away the technology and the advancements and the type of situation we've been put in, we still come to the same conclusion that they did in the 1930's.
We are people and as people we are all vulnerable to what the world throws at us, but that does not mean we are weak. Individually we may fall and struggle, but together we will get back up again.
Reconsider how you view this pandemic.
Reconsider how you respond to this pandemic.