It may sound counter-intuitive to suggest that Covid-19 could have been the path to spiritual awakening for many people but this is exactly what I’m starting to see. Many people go through this kind of awakening (or often a series of awakenings) through suffering some kind of unpleasant event, such as the loss of a loved one, serious illness or some other kind of major change brought on through external circumstances and forced on them outside their control. A pandemic can cause any or all of these.
Obviously, the loss of a loved one is a painful experience – the closer you were to them, the more painful it will be. The experience will change you, it will make you think about the fragility of life, not just your own but that of others around you. When you have passed through the stages of mourning it will make you appreciate your own life all the more; it might also make you appreciate the loved ones who are still around you more than you did before.
Very much the same can be said of serious illness. I myself suffered from a very serious case of Lymphoma in 2002; it was so serious in fact that I really thought I was going to die. This was my big awakening – it totally changed me – from someone who only believed in science to someone who now calls themselves spiritual (and believe me, before 2002 I would have laughed in the face of anyone who suggested I could be). Nothing will ever make you appreciate the life you have like the thought you might lose it.
The change in circumstances that Covid-19 brought upon us is more subtle but no less intense. The combination of social isolation, change in work practice (working from home instead of going to the office every day) and buying more on-line rather than going to the shops has left people with a quite different life situation and possibly more free time on their hands; time to think about their lives and reassess what’s important to them.
The upshot to all this, in my opinion, is a sea-change in our society. As more and more people are able to work from home, the large office complexes in our city centres will be increasingly and permanently abandoned – I don’t believe we will ever go back to mass commuting into the city. Also more and more people will want to move out of their flats and small houses in cities and large towns so that they can live in more rural areas. I predicted this as soon as lockdown was announced in March and we are now seeing this happen – expensive city-centre flats being traded in for spacious detached houses with big gardens in the countryside or smaller seaside towns. Those who act quickly will do well but those who delay will find the value of their urban dwellings will fall quickly while the prices of rural properties will become unaffordable and the dream of moving to the country will never become reality.
Am I going too far by calling this spiritual awakening? Well perhaps, but it is a step in the right direction. Many, many people are now thinking in different ways, they have reassessed their priorities and realised that such things as family, friends and community have real value; that having cleaner air, a bit more space and a garden are more important that a shorter commute to work. History will look back on the time of Covid-19 as a time of major societal transition – hopefully towards a better future.
Natural Understanding 