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THE RAGE of the covid19 pandemic is far from over and we need both brains and brawn for us to survive. Mental acuity or intelligence and physical strength must be considered together. These are often pitted against each other, but in the 21st century we face demands to deliver increasingly sophisticated curriculum while at the same time we face increasingly difficult classroom situations.
Schools are under pressure to produce better results, with tests that reflect a limited view of education. Students must now find a place in the global and interdependent society we live in. It is our goal that they acquire teamwork and social skills, resilience, compassion, good work ethics, human decency and, of course, an “education.”
Technology is expanding and we must be committed to teaching thinking skills that will expand social skills, emotional skills and good character, while it is imperative that we advocate for better healthcare systems and avidly pursue personal health improvements.
Going forward is not an easy thing to do. There are monumental concerns and overwhelming feelings that are pervading homes, communities and nations. While we struggle in the present-day education process, the answers for the meaning and value of life remain like the unseen mosquito, hovering and whispering, leaving you with a sense of frustration as you express a fleeting wish for the end of the pandemic.
Psychologically speaking, when we can identify something, we can begin healing by knowing what we are dealing with. We desperately need our brains as we delve into the traumas and stress of our own personal history that rears its head when we are in “lockdown and quarantine" mode, as we are in proximity to family members and the terrors of covid19.
We feel deconstructed, afraid, sad, betrayed by our bodies, life circumstances, leaders and systems, and even God. Where is God and why did this have to happen? Blame and scapegoating are being shared out like hot Sunday lunch. It is the Chinese conspiracy, the people’s sins, irresponsible people, and the list goes on.
It is a sobering time and our natural thinking abilities are in the spotlight. We must move on from identifying how we really feel into investigating why we feel this way, how it has affected our thinking patterns, emotions, behaviour and actions. We must engage in this process with curiosity about our own way of being in the world and avoid berating ourselves and each other.
Furthermore, it is crucial now to find strategies for personal change and growth and to be committed in implementing them. We may feel alone, afraid, fractured, unhinged, and restless as we wait to exhale while being anxious to inhale. Yet, there are other aspects arising which we must nurture, such as responsibility, stillness, adaptability, gratitude, creativity, kindness, compassion, introspection, and opportunities to reaffirm life.
Many of our students, teachers and parents and all our beloved ones, frontline workers and citizens are struggling with fatigue, overwhelming frustration, aloneness and loss. As we deliberately stay within the confines of our homes, we must journey deep within the recesses of our minds and engage our cognitive dissonance so that we may examine conflicting attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that create an anxious and socially insensitive existence.
Our brawn and physical strength, the built-in reaction to perceived danger, “fight or flight,” kicked in when covid19 was declared a pandemic over a year ago. It is an invisible danger with death at your doorstep. As we take all safety precautions to “run away” from this contagion, we must become aware of our internal system of “running away” from our own shadows, denying them, instead of facing them and becoming free from our own pains and insecurities.
Flexing our muscles to do what is right and fair requires unwavering commitment to truth, justice and a paradigm shift in our cognition and the way we perceive ourselves, others and the world we live in. The traumatic social and psychological effects of this crisis will be seen and felt in the years to come. Individual and collective responsibility for the damage done will eliminate the need for scapegoats to easily blame.
Hence, our brawn will be tested as the consequences of disease and stress will exacerbate burdens and threaten already “thin-on-ice” relationships. A mental and physical pandemic is here and the effects will be seen long after the present crisis is over. JRR Tolkien states, “No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly.”
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