Right now, we re living through a time of deep fear, insecurity and unpredictability. But with every significant historical event there are lessons to be drawn out. And some of us have time to reflect and consider what we can learn from the challenges of the global pandemic.

So here are four lessons of the global pandemic that we can all carry with us:

1. We have been given the opportunity to learn about and feel greater empathy for those who experience invisible threats on a daily basis.
2. We have been provided with a glimpse of what a deeper sense of community connection and responsibility can mean for our society.
3. We have been given the chance to recalibrate what and who we value in our lives and in our society.
4. We have been provided with an important perspective shift that has made more visible who has privilege in our society and at whose expense.

So let’s talk about each in turn.

Lesson #1: We have been given the opportunity to learn about and feel greater empathy for those who experience invisible threats on a daily basis.

There are people living every day of their lives who need to be extremely vigilant about avoiding invisible threats all around them. In previous articles, I have talked about my daughter who has an anaphylactic allergy to dairy and how she walks through this world with invisible threats all around her. There are people who are immuno-compromised who also have this experience.

The global pandemic has provided every single one of us with that same feeling of worry and anxiety about our safety: about whether something terrible lurks on that surface we just touched; and about whether others are taking the appropriate precautions to keep us safe.   This provides an important opportunity to develop greater empathy for those around us who live with this feeling of worry and uncertainty everyday. And perhaps it will help us all be kinder, more considerate and less self-centered as we interact with those who live with these invisible threats that will outlast this global pandemic.

Lesson #2: We have been provided with a glimpse of what a deeper sense of community connection and responsibility can mean in our society.

This global pandemic has created opportunity to revive practices that were once more common across all societies: being friendly to people you see on the streets; checking in on the elderly and making sure their needs are being met; and creating safe systems to care for those who are in quarantine and are self-isolating for the good of the community.

It has also provided an opportunity for all of us to think about the value of everyday people and to demonstrate deep gratitude for those who continue to put the needs of others and the community before the needs of themselves, like grocery workers, public transit drivers, cleaning staff and of course doctors, nurses and other medical staff.

Like in many places across the world, our street has developed a way to publicly demonstrate our gratitude for these workers.   Every night, along with our neighbours, we go out on our porch and bang pots and drums, play recorders and whistles, and make a whole bunch of noises of appreciation. We also smile and wave at our neighbours who are out doing the same thing. And we do this in the hopes that the health care workers, the grocery workers and the other people keeping essential services going hear and feel our gratitude straight from our hearts to theirs.

Lesson #3: We have been given the chance to recalibrate what and who we value in our lives and in our society.

The global pandemic has created an opportunity for all of us to pause…to take a deep breath… to think carefully about our values, both personal and societal. Collectively, we have put a pause on spending money, on creating pollution, and on travelling around the globe. We have put a pause on capitalism and have turned to our governments to provide a social safety net to help us through this time of uncertainly and crisis.

As well, the global pandemic has provided us with the opportunity to see the true nature of our leaders. We are seeing how they act under crisis. We are seeing whether they act in a way that conforms to our values and our vision of how the world should be. We are seeing if they are making decisions in the interests of humanity or in the interests of corporations and profit. And importantly, we are seeing how leaders in countries where the citizens collectively place value on acting in the interests of community are able to slow the spread of COVID19.

We’re also seeing new leaders and role models emerging. In Canada, women are providing the bulk of the expert medical advice aimed at flattening the curve. And front-line healthcare workers are on the front lines in trying to treat those affected by this epidemic. Many of them have moved out of their home, dropped their kids off with family members or implemented rigid cleaning and social distancing protocols within their own homes to keep their loves ones safe. And tragically many have died as a result of the high levels of risk or exposure they take on to serve the greater good. This global pandemic has given all of us the unique opportunity to deeply understand the importance of the work they do and the true value of their work and lives in our society.

Lesson #4: We have been provided with an important perspective shift that has made more visible who has privilege in our society and at whose expense.

Importantly, the global pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to understand our privilege and the ways in which this pandemic reinforces inequality and social injustice. Those of us who have a home, can regularly wash our hands, can purchase or make masks (and feel safe donning masks in public spaces), and live in a household where every member is able to stay home are extremely privileged at this time.

At the same time, there are people who are at significant risk, including:

• Those who are homeless don’t have access to water to wash their hands regularly, don’t have a home to self-isolate in, and many of the services they rely on are closed.

• Those who are incarcerated are at significant risk. In many institutions, there is no way to isolate people who are sick from those who are not. Jail cells are close together and inmates are often doubled up in cells. The biggest threat is visitors, guards or those serving weekend sentences who could inadvertently bring COVID19 in, which would then spread like wildfire. And these inmates, at least in North America, are disproportionately racialized and Indigenous people. It is important to note that many people who are in prison are there on remand – prior to their trial. They are therefore assumed to be innocent and despite this, may be put into a situation where there are significant risks to their health due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• People in long term care homes or supportive residential institutions often have staff who work in multiple locations providing health and support care, which increased the risk for residents. These residential facilities also often do not have enough space to separate those who are ill from those who are not.

• Low wage workers, who are disproportionately racialized and are often migrant workers, are also more likely required to put themselves into situations where they have higher risk. They may need to take public transit and may be working in jobs that are essential services, like as farm labourers, and as cleaning personnel. They may also not be in a position where they could choose not to work to protect their personal safety.

• And of course, other essential workers including grocery clerks, transit and train drivers, truck drivers who are going to work every day and making sure everyone can get to where they need to be or have access to food to eat and other basic necessities. These workers never signed up for the increase health risks they are facing by providing these essential services. In this work, they contact hundreds of people and therefore have to risk their health and safety in order for the rest of us to have access to food and other essentials to keep our families safe, fed and healthy.

This global pandemic makes more visible the social injustices that exist within our society. It provides an important perspective shift for those of us who have the privilege to be able to stay home and keep our distance while others put their health and safety on the line on a daily basis to ensure their own survival and/or for the greater good.

What this global pandemic makes visible is how our privilege works and how it depends on the oppression of others. In other words, it helps us understand how our ability to stay home and self-isolate depends on the work of others who are living in situations of increased risk. This pandemic therefore has created an important opportunity for deep self-reflection and understanding of how we can create meaningful social change that aims to remedy social injustice.

So where do we go from here?

As we move beyond this global pandemic (hopefully sooner rather than later), we can take these important lessons and use them to advocate for change in our society that more appropriately reflect the value of people’s work, the value of people’s lives and the values we think are important as a community. We can demand social change that focuses on empathy, human connection, community, and responsibility to others. And just as importantly, we can support leaders who embody and reinforce these values.

Let’s consider how we can use this unprecedented time of navigating this global pandemic to learn about ourselves and about what kind of society we want to live in.  Then let’s take action to create a better, more equitable and just society for everyone.

What lessons have you been drawing out of this global pandemic? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this article, check out: