I saw some stories and pictures of how in the middle of this all, animals (dolphins, boars...) are starting to live more freely in the empty streets and canals of Venice. There is such beauty in this, that I nearly start to cry.
At the same time I am sad and stressed about the uncertainty of how this will turn out for us humans.
I think this is a very telling image. What we've philosophized for a long time suddenly becomes a concrete reality: we truly live in a world of contradiction. It is a nightmare, it has always been, but we in the West haven't had to face it so directly, widely and dramatically for many decades. And more crises will come. The current one will surely change how we see our world (at least for some time), and in the long run this ”awakening” for sure isn't all bad.
But when there are nightmares, there are also good dreams. The latter ones are just as real as the former, even though ”actualizing” those good dreams requires much more effort, especially in turbulent times. I can very well understand why people react strongly, and even overreact , in protecting themselves and people around them (surely I have done that to some extent myself too), and also why people start to think like ”good that we get rid of humans, Hail Gaia, we get what we deserve”. Also I think that (seeming) indifference towards death – or to how other people perceive death – is not a sign of ”esotericism”, nor a sign of ”strenght” etc., but more a sign of the actual meaning of unity not being fully understood. Bluntly said, to talk as if death is not a big issue to me, and shoudn't be to others either, is not that different from saying that all suffering in the world doesn't really matter that much, ”it's just an illusion” or something. Well, sure, it is just an illusion, but at the same time all the suffering is also very very real. And what does this ”esotericism” mean here anyway? If we think that we are somehow on a higher level compared to some ignorant hordes (and who exactly are they, anyway, and who are we to make such categorizations?), is such behaviour somehow esoteric in essence?
I don't believe that death is the end for us, but I too would still like to stick around, if possible. Of course, in the end that decision is not mine to make, and accepting just that in itself is a big step. Global crisis or not. But basically, it's not
our job to tell anyone how they should perceive their own life and death.
This is more general pondering than something aimed at anyone here, even if some comments have sparked these thoughts. The abovementioned attitudes just seem to be all around, especially if people are more or less LHP oriented. And often what is probably intended to be a nihilistic, misanthropic übermensch statement, just seems juvenile and defensive to me.
This current crisis is also just starting now, and our initial reaction might be different from what it will be in weeks, months, years to come. Luckily we are so much more than our primitive reactions, our fears, insecurities, inability to act according to our ideals etc.
Thank you for your wise words, Aquila, and thank you Mars for your brief comment which summarizes the most important thing of all:
Mars wrote: ↑Tue Mar 17, 2020 6:48 pm
My own attitude is that of compassion towards those affected by this or any other upheaval. Catastrophes might be inevitable but that's no reason to surrender to fatalism and indifference towards suffering.