One of the things I’ve heard many times in this era of Covid-19 and social distancing is that when this is over, things will be different. When I think about the future, it’s left me wondering what will be different, and what will be the same. Do my dreams differ from those of other people, or are we entering a period of collective consciousness that somehow mirrors the experience we have all lived through? Will we be kinder? Will we be gentler with one another? Will we reach out more often to our neighbours? Will there be more, at last, that unites us than divides?
I look at my children, and think of the ways they will remember this. Will they recall clapping into starry evenings, pointing to rainbows on windows, recounting all the ways that people were being kind? I hope so, as we FaceTime Grandparents and think about the benefits of homeschool, of being together, cocooned and safe and cosy. I hope one day we’ll tell the next generation of children, not about being 'locked down' but about that time we had to hibernate in spring.
I hope in the future we’ll look back knowing that many jobs considered unsuitable for home or flexible working could, in fact, be done more flexibly. I hope we never forget that anyone involved in helping deserves our undying gratitude and support. I hope for a future which is more compassionate towards those who are vulnerable, where communities come together, where checking on elderly neighbours is commonplace. A world where we grieve for and honour our losses, and at the same time balance the unequal scales that have been so obvious to us all this time.
If this period has taught us anything, it’s that what once seemed unlikely is possible. That the world can shift, all of a sudden, in ways we don’t anticipate or expect. That a future which seems unrecognisable to us – both for bad and for good – is entirely plausible. That the possibility of all these things means a future built by dreamers can become not just a dream, but truth.
And when this is over, I hope we don’t return too soon to 'normal'. Perhaps one thing we’re learning is that 'normal' can’t go on the way it has. Perhaps when this is over, we’ll look back and realise how much we learned – about ourselves, about each other, about how connected we all are.
About how much we need each other.
And like the winter garden that turned towards springtime, just how beautifully we bloomed.