“Undesirable Dependence” (Medium)

 Medium published my new article “Undesirable Dependence”

Suddenly, we can’t escape our dependence on others. We don’t want to be dependent on others, but if they are not careful, they could infect me, and if I am not careful, I could infect them.

How can I protect myself from them? What if they are irresponsible? But I, too, am often irresponsible, so can I trust others to be responsible? Do I even have the right to expect this of them?

So Covid emerged with a message in its spikes: Be nice to one another. With debilitating force, it restored Earth’s systemic balance. It sent us home and kept us there so nature could recover. And once it did, the virus let us out but told us not to misbehave again.

Covid-19 has forced us to recognize and address our interdependence. We didn’t want to; we wanted to keep living a carefree life as though we could go on doing whatever we want without accountability for our actions. But nature threw us a curveball. Out of nowhere, it tossed a virus in our faces and forced us to rethink everything we’ve known about ourselves, society, and the world we live in.

Until it tossed Covid at us, we exploited and manipulated everyone and everything, and everyone else did the same. The winner of the cheating game was the one who exploited and deceived the most and got away with it. We created a society of miserable people, high on prescription drugs, hopelessly insecure, and dragging themselves through aimless and pain-filled lives. And toward nature — the soil, plants, and animals — we showed no mercy.

So Covid emerged with a message in its spikes: Be nice to one another. With debilitating force, it restored Earth’s systemic balance. It sent us home and kept us there so nature could recover. And once it did, the virus let us out but told us not to misbehave again.

We wouldn’t listen so now it’s back, stronger than before. It is not a punishment; it is more of a rein that nature uses to direct us where it wants. Today, it wants us to walk toward mutual responsibility. It has already made us mutually responsible for one another on the physical level, through our responsibility for each other’s health. Now it wants us to be responsible for one another on the emotional, spiritual level, so we will feel each other’s needs and won’t need the physical restrictions it is currently imposing on us.

The coronavirus is teaching us to think about each other positively rather than negatively, to tend to each other’s health even if we do not want to, since my health depends on everybody else’s. But the virus is aspiring for more. If we think about each other of our own volition, the virus won’t have to force us. And this is its goal: to make us think of one another, care for another, and build a united humanity, like nature itself.

When we become like nature, we will understand why it sent us the virus. We will see the wholeness of the system that has engendered us and everything around us. We will understand the cycles of life, and the reason for living, and we will form a unified human society whose people understand why they are here and enjoy every moment of their lives.