We find ourselves in a weird situation – half of the world is on lockdown, people cannot leave their houses without extreme necessity, businesses have stopped working, all social life cancelled and borders in between countries are closed. The current pandemic is an issue for the whole planet in the globalized world, both the obvious one, the health of the population, as well as the economic consequences it will bring. At this point any scenario is possible, nobody knows how long it will last. It might not be a big deal, or it might be the end of the world as we know it. And the reaction to this event is panic. People are freaking out, compulsively sweeping supermarkets and pharmacies trying to protect themselves, in all ways possible, from whatever it is coming next.
I, like any human being, at first felt my worries raise in the face of the unknown but then managed to calm myself down because I understood a few things. First – what is the real reason for panic? Due to the circumstance of my personal life, I live day by day keeping in mind that anything can happen at any moment. None of us are protected from the randomness of this world’s events. But what I realized is that most people live without this notion, nor do they contemplate death. They go through their days like they will last forever and suddenly they are facing a situation that makes them face their own mortality. In this circumstance the first visceral reaction is to try to find all kinds of ways to protect their lives, without probably even being conscious about this underlying fear. Let me tell you one thing – you will die. Everyone you love and care about will die. And this is not to make anyone scared and paranoid - the other way around. Death is the only certainty we actually have in life. We do not know when or how it will happen, but we know it will. But most live their lives like they will never end. I think this is a huge mistake. The finality of our lives is what makes every second of it precious. Now as people are facing the situation where the development of events is unpredictable, this primordial fear crawls out of their subconscious and controls their actions. This is a way to irrationality and it hasn’t ever helped anyone to solve an actual problem. Let go. Admitting your own mortality is very liberating. However contradictory it might sound - when you know how fragile you are, you will act from the place of valuing what you have, not from a place of fear.
Following on from the previous idea – make peace with the fact that you can lose everything you have at any moment. Again – as confusing as it might sound for some – understand that you actually own nothing but yourself. All your economic wealth, all the commodities that you acquired over your lifetime – it can all disappear in a fracture of a second. Ask your grandparents, who in all likelihood, have seen war or devastating economic crisis, how everything you own can be taken from you in any given instant.
As horrific as it might sound for many people – the ability to de-attach is a very liberating. It helps you to stay calm in your decision making. Anything can happen and there is no need to fall into despair – just be ready for whatever comes. Face your fate with your chest forward and your head up. Act on facts, not on your predictions.
Besides – what we see now is not the worst thing that could happen. There is no war, no famine, infrastructure is fully functioning and with modern technology you have an access to all the information in the world to keep yourself entertained.
Another major thing I have noticed and wanted to touch upon – peoples’ inability to stay with themselves and keep themselves busy during the lockdown, especially when it comes to physical practice. Some people I know who practice martial arts or weightlifting are climbing the walls cause it is so specialized that they are not able to adapt to a different environment, thus they just do absolutely nothing! When Spain announced a full lockdown, the first thing I did was make a whole list of things I could practice while closed in a reduced space with no equipment. And let me tell you – my movement practice is so versatile that I could be enclosed for a few years and would not run out of resources in this sense. Unfortunately what I see in people when they face having so much free time for themselves – they get bored quickly and fall into the downward spiral of bad habits. There is so much room for self-development! Especially in these times of the internet. I will list some of practical advice for those who have trouble keeping themselves busy:
List activities you always wanted to do, but never had time to, that will be beneficial for your development as an individual. It can be anything from drawing, singing, dancing, learning a new language, taking a programming course, learning the history of ancient Greece etc. etc. There are many resources on the web that can help you with them.
Research physical activities that can be done at home – as I said earlier there are many things you can do within the confinement of your own apartment. Be creative. For those who really struggle I really recommend visiting Ido Portal’s old blog: idoportal.blogspot.com
Read a lot and try to minimize use of social media, really make it a point to finish several books that you have on your shelves over this period of time.
Inner practice – very important. Take up meditation, try to make it the first thing you do after you wake up and repeat formal practice several times throughout the day. There are videos/apps available that can help you with it if you have never been exposed to this practice before.
Schedule your day around the things I listed above, block out the amount of time a day that you think you can dedicate to each of them. If you still have to work from home, obviously this will be your main priority, but if you have all 24 hours a day at your disposal – be very strict with following this routine.
Even though you don’t need to go anywhere, wake up early and don’t stay up too late at night. Getting out of schedule is very damaging for your ability to stay motivated to do anything. And when all of this is over – you will be under the burden of having to get rid of bad habits developed over the time of lockdown, this will not help you confront the difficult situation you might encounter after it all finished.
Keep your eating habits healthy/start developing your healthy eating habits – depending on where you are at. It is easy to excuse yourself for eating shit in this situation, but it will have the same negative effect on your mental health as I mentioned in the paragraph above.
Seek support from the local community. Everyone is in the same boat, reach out to people who have been around you since before it all happened, the good thing about this situation is that the level of compassion and endorsement amongst people has gone up.
And last but not the least: STOP WATCHING TV. It is important to follow the development of the events to be aware of what is going on, but the media is constantly looking to inject more fear and uncertainty in the population. Even in normal times, I would recommend to throw it away.
A time of crisis is a moment when everything flairs up to the surface. People show their real faces, as well as their actual capacity to withstand complicated situations. At any moment of our existence there is a context that always changes, but there is also an essence of you as a human being that is always present. Learn to distinguish between these two. I want to repeat that this is not the worst situation that could have happened to us but it will reveal a lot about each individual and society as a whole. And always remember that our mere existence is a reminder that our grandparents, who have been through devastating wars and famines, bloody changes of political systems and horrific natural disasters, and other things that we from the comfort of our lives in developed civilization cannot even imagine, have made it. And if they could, you can too.