Pandemics & Other Paradigm Shifts - by R. Gary Raham
Business as usual. Until it isn’t. Those phrases define paradigm shifts often precipitated by assassinations, wars, diagnoses of terminal illness, singularly improbable achievements, and global catastrophes. Those of us who have lived long enough to become silver-crested primates of the human variety may have seen more than one in our lifetimes. The covid-19 pandemic certainly qualifies as a paradigm-shifting event. And while it may wreak havoc for many, it can also provide a time to slow down, reflect, create, communicate, and reformulate.
Slow down.
Pre-pandemic life often seemed to spin like a hamster’s exercise wheel. We used our labor-saving devices to give us time for different labors or provide enough money to shop ‘til we dropped. We zoned out on sports, tuned out with games or videos, or chased children or grand children from one organized happening to another. Slowing down a little has advantages: we can relish achievements and assess mistakes in preparation for more deliberate forward motion.
Reflect
Socrates is credited with pronouncing that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He chose death over exile at his famous trial for corrupting the youth of Athens with heretical ideas. Of course, Socrates was a nerd like many writers, scientists, and introverts of various persuasions, but everyone can benefit from occasionally re-examining the assumptions that power their lives.
Create
I painted Early Earth, Mega Moon, an image that had been haunting me for several months. I made progress on my next novel. Others with more practical skills made life-saving masks or other gear for health workers. Children chalked drawings on sidewalks or painted rocks to hide as surprises for others to find on hikes. People built backdrops to put behind their chairs during Zoom meetings. Creativity often runs rampant as people re-envision change.
Communicate
And speaking of Zoom meetings: People remembered they do have neglected friends and relatives that might be fun to laugh and smile with, if only at a safe distance. My wife and I have chosen Saturdays as play-Quiddler-with-friends day via FaceTime. It’s been a fun way to play word games with people with whom we enjoy spending time. True, divorce rates have gone up as some people miscommunicate catastrophically with spouses underfoot all the time, but others have remembered what they loved about their families in the first place.
Reformulate
Pollution rates have fallen dramatically when commerce ground to a stop. Oil has over-filled warehouses as people have reduced the frenetic pace of travel. Animals have begun reclaiming some urban areas as they come out of hiding in their vanishing wild places. Is it possible to rethink the way we live from day to day in such a way that we can make the world a better place in which to live? Perhaps a little ball of protein and RNA 1/1,000 the width of a grain of salt can help us reformulate our behavior—now that it’s rocked the world we once took for granted.
Gary Raham is a teacher, graphic artist, illustrator, and writer. He has authored and illustrated two natural history books, and writes science articles for publications such as Highlights for Children. He lives with his family in Colorado
