How is COVID similar to fire?
The other day, I was sitting around a campfire late at night, alone. I had, what to me, was a profound thought. Our entire society is built upon human’s ability to harness the power of fire. We were not at the top of the food chain in the beginning. Our ability to harness the flame and more largely utilize tools set us apart from all other animals in the kingdom (some animals use tools, but none that I’m aware of leverage fire). As I was sitting there thinking, I was also struck by fire’s unique capability to transform and purify parts of nature. As I usually do on this blog, I extrapolated that idea and applied it to what is happening in society now. I also talk about nature and how it’s not a sweet, cute thing that we see in some majestic nature magazine. These are my thoughts and opinions.
We rely heavily on fire. It is present everywhere in society, just in a controlled manner. We use combustion to propel our cars (internal combustion engines), make electricity (we burn wood or natural gas to make steam to turn turbine generators), cook our food (gas stove), make medicine (bunsen burner), and all sorts of other products. We do not pay much attention to it since we have become its master. It’s important to note some of its characteristics.
Fire simultaneously creates (ash) while destroying what it burns. It purifies and eradicates the thing burned. What fire leaves behind is a vibrant building block for fertile soil. From fertile land, new objects and ideas grow, and the cycle begins anew. Flame breaks down old and decaying materials readying them for new things to be birthed and created. It is also very dangerous to biology. If it gets out of control, it will destroy material and people that are near and dear to us.
Is COVID fire?
Based on the pandemic in the world today, I am reminded of a forest fire. Forest fires clear the deadwood. Many trees in areas with regular wildfires have become accustomed to, and rely upon, these fires to survive and spread their seeds. These trees can survive mild yet frequent fires. When we keep these small fires from burning, deadwood piles up. This scenario gives more heat to the infernos when they do come. The additional heat kills the tree. With no tree, there are no roots in the soil. No roots in the ground when the rain comes allows for mudslides.
In society, I see the average age increasing, and the continuous use of antibacterial soaps and antibiotics are at the forefront of our obsession to remain clean. These phenomena seem much like the piling of deadwood. Until medical technology advanced, by the time we could write, we were also preparing for imminent death. That has since changed, and while not a bad thing per se, it creates an aging population along with many new faces on the earth. Maybe humans were not meant to live so long, especially when it becomes a quality of life that is not comfortable or fulfilling. How did our population get to a state of such decay? I argue that we have become frail from all of the cleanliness. I also say that we have become weak in that we do not face physical challenges regularly anymore. We were designed to move and to hunt. Sitting at our desk with our hand sanitizer and a box of Clorox disinfecting wipes makes us unfit for the fight that is life.
Is COVID burning off the deadwood of society?
Perhaps we humans weren’t supposed to live to 70, 80, or 100. Maybe this is part of nature’s process and is exacerbated by our global economy. If this happened 100 years ago, the spread could have been slower. There were no airplanes then, and travel by boat took months at best.
In times past, we also worked in the dirt. The dirt has microbes in it that are healthy for our immune system. We also ate moldy food in small amounts, which could have killed us, but if it did not, as they say, whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Society was much more rugged before the industrial revolution. It makes sense that we are much more adapted to long ago a nomadic, and more recently, an agrarian lifestyle. It does not make sense that we are well suited for a supermarket and pharmacy lifestyle.
Maybe this virus is nature’s way of pushing back. Perhaps this phenomenon is telling us the world’s population is too large, too sickly and too old? This postulate I do not know, but it makes sense even with a lack of hard evidence.
I know what some of you might be thinking, something along the lines of “That’s terrible; how could he say that?” First, I fully recognize and accept that I could be one of the weak ones to be weeded out. Second, when we take a step back from our comfortable lives, and we look at nature, really look at it for all of its goods and bads, we will realize a few things.
Nature, and more broadly, the universe is at best indifferent to our existence. To take this a step further, neither of these things are required to make any sense to us. We mainly assign the meaning that we want to actions, objects, and even to our very own lives. So, while I do not wish death upon anyone, I think it’s important to consider how nature and our bodies work. Once we realize that the world (precisely nature) is not necessarily a nice, bright, beautiful, and cute place (think wolf attack, or worse), we can wake up to the reality that sits before us.
“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” - Neil deGrasse
Where can we go?
After my last post, I wanted to provide some positive things that we can do in times like these. I enjoy thinking about life philosophically and metaphorically, but that doesn’t solve problems in and of itself. We as humans want to create meaning, but the dramatic change in the world has left us with few meanings to assign to this new way of life. It makes sense that lies and conspiracy theories run wild during a time such as now. It’s merely people trying to create meanings based on little to no evidence for what is happening in the world. It’s essential to realize the world is far too complex a place for a single human to comprehend fully. There is a lot that we do not, and will not know. Not knowing is okay. If we don’t understand what COVID is, or more importantly, why it is here, then let’s focus on what we can do.
We can all move toward a place of accepting the things that are out of our control. We humans like to create perceived certainty. When we realize that there is so much that we do not know, there will always be a large amount of uncertainty. When we recognize this level of ambiguity, it can bring stress, anxiety, or confusion. Being this way is better than lying to ourselves and others with the proclamation that we know, and that the future is inevitable when it is not and never is.
During this time, we can choose who we want to be and what we want to do. We can select activities and pursuits that bolster this person. There is not much more to say here because whatever works for us, makes us feel fulfilled and happy, that’s alright. What I would do here is most likely not what you would do, and that’s what makes us unique and exciting.
It’s essential to keep in mind that we need not compare ourselves to who others are today but to who we were yesterday, as Jordan Peterson says. If we compare our lives and our experience during this time to another, it’s easy for shame to slip in with internal monologue sounding something like “I should be doing x, y, or z.” I think back to a Tony Robbins audio recording. He describes what he was doing Set 11, 2001. He was on an island in Fiji (of course, right?), leading a retreat of sorts. First, the news was delayed in getting there due to the time zone difference. Once word of what had happened reached the group, people started to get a bit crazy, he noted. He mentioned there were people from all over the world there. His main observation and I think it’s a powerful one, is during this stressful time, people became who they were. This idea is to say, the worriers worried, the angry people got angry, the sad people got sad. During such a profoundly tumultuous time, our emotions shine through, and our true selves come to the forefront. There is little that we can do to change it aside from observing what is there, what is real, how we are acting, and lovingly question, “why am I feeling this right now?”
I choose to focus on what I can change in what I like to call my “sphere of influence.” I cannot change how the leader of the country acts, but I can choose how I respond. I can choose whether I reach out and stay connected to others. I can choose to help where I can. I can decide to make this time of “quarantine” either self-destructive or akin to a caterpillar inside of its cocoon. I can take this time to transform myself and my life so that when I get to the other side, I am a beautiful butterfly ready to shine my light onto a world that is likely beaten and possibly a good bit broken.
What does this mean?
We are floating in uncharted waters abound with uncertainty and ambiguity. These are the enemies to feelings of safety and security. We, humans, crave both of these feelings. It makes sense that these are challenging times. The wild and remarkable aspects of our world are rearing their ugly heads right now. Nature is coming at us full force, and it does not look like the cute cat video that we just watched on YouTube. Reality is brutal and uncertain. This time is providing us space, a vessel within which we get to choose who we want to be. We can all be invited to take the time to either start or to continue to mold ourselves into someone that we are proud to be. This journey is a torturous one filled with twists, turns, setbacks, and triumphs. We can all choose to press on in the face of adversity, decide to press on into the prevailing headwinds of life.
I invite you to check out last week’s post which featured some of the more intimate struggles that I’ve been facing during this challenging time.