Disruption, Surrealism, Opportunity

I live and work in Duwamish territory, currently known as the city of Seattle. As you might have seen on the news, we’re one of the epicenters for the spread of COVID-19 in North America. It’s been a strange and slightly surreal experience. I’m extremely lucky in that I can work from home, and our entire company-- including our European and African partners-- have been doing everything remotely. Other companies that can go remote are doing so, and when I had to go out to run an errand, the streets were eerily quiet. Only two other people were on a bus that is normally crowded. My greyhound looks towards our normal commute route when I take him for walks, then looks up at me quizzically-- to him, this upheaval in routine is utterly mystifying. 

In this upheaval and fear though, there is a glimmer of opportunity. Seattle in particular has seen a growing sense of camaraderie and mutual support, even if we’re doing it over the phone or social media as we practice our social distancing. There is also a shedding of excess-- the trappings that the denizens of wealthy cities in wealthy countries convince ourselves are needs, not luxuries, the endless production of stuff being poured into a collective well of dissatisfaction in the Global North.  The measures that are keeping us as safe as possible from the virus are buying us time against another existential threat which people have willfully ignored. People have been so reluctant to let go of these things in the face of the climate crisis, but now that they have done so, I hope the sacrifices that seemed daunting have become a new, less materialistic normal.