Spring into action

Emmy Jansen
MSMU Class of 2023

(4/2020) We live in strange times. When we all thought of how the new decade would go for us, I don’t think any of us pictured a pandemic that has impacted our daily lives in some way or another. Whether we’re students doing classes from home or fast food workers who are only serving customers through the drive thru, everyone is feeling the effects of this virus. As we continue through these weeks, we wonder if they will turn into months or even years.

I think we’re lucky that this is happening to us during the start of spring instead of the dead of winter. Being kicked out of my dorm and sent back home wasn’t how I wanted my semester to go, but I’m loving the sun and warmth of Richmond over what had been a cold mountain range in Maryland. We are being told not to eat out or do any leisure activities that involve large crowds, like malls or the movies. Some of us are taking this opportunity to catch up on Netflix or do housework. But as I write this, there are dozens of people walking by my bedroom window soaking up the sun that we haven’t really seen since the fall. These days of quarantine might have taken away some things in our lives that we took for granted. But it’s also giving us the opportunity to appreciate what we never truly did before: our planet.

Because the news has been inundated with the virus, we haven’t heard as much talk about climate change recently. Before, we used to hear about it all the time and I think a lot of us got tired of hearing about the state of our planet and we stopped believing that it was a real problem. My hope is that this break from that segment of news may cleanse our mental palette and allow us to understand the scope of the issue more when all this blows over. I was recently told that China was seeing clear skies because all of the people had been quarantined and no one was in the factories working. While I have no evidence to back up this claim, the idea was shocking. Because of the virus, jobs like factory work are probably seeing some sort of slow, whether because workers have been sent home or people aren’t purchasing goods like they used to. But when we think about it, maybe the solution to climate change is really that simple. While it isn’t just the small day to day changes, we can each make and we need more drastic measures, we can each do our part to protect the longevity of our planet.

This virus couldn’t have happened at a better time for us, I think. To escape from being cooped up in our houses, we’re all enjoying Mother Nature like we always should’ve been. We’re putting down the electronics and looking around us and are thankful for what we see. For those of us that see more danger in the virus than others, life has been given a new meaning. It takes times like these for us to truly remember what it means to have a life to live. We remember how fragile humanity is and how we need to protect the sanctity of life. We never know when it is going to end and we should be ready at any moment, not just when a pandemic spreads across the world.

As we head towards Earth Day and Arbor Day, we should reflect on these times, regardless of if they’ve ended. This virus should’ve awakened us to the joys of life and the importance of the world around us. Unlike many global disasters like wildfires or floods, this event has touched every single person on the planet. This is one of the first truly shared human experiences. This pandemic is non-discriminatory and each of us are feeling its impacts, albeit some more than others. While this thought may fill us with fear, it should also fill us with a sense of comfort. We are not alone. In times of globalization, we are more connected now than we ever have been. However, we often feel more alone. Rates of suicide and depression are higher than they were decades ago, even though it is so much easier now to find someone to talk to. Perhaps a silver lining of this whole situation is that we realize how surrounded by people we are. With advanced technology and a growing global population, there is no reason why we should ever feel alone.

It shouldn’t have to come down to times like these to shock us into action, but this has been common in our history. After World War Two, we had a greater understanding of life and the joys of the privilege we see in our country. 9/11 taught us to look around at our country and be thankful we live here and can partake in her spirit. I hope COVID-19 opens our eyes to the global community and how it can be used as a moral good instead of a modern evil. We should come away with a new appreciation for the world around us, the planet we’re on and the people on it with us. Our future might look bleak as we push through this virus, but it also looks incredibly bright once we get past this.

The weather is in the mid-80s. The sun is shining and there is a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. If you didn’t know it, it wouldn’t seem like the planet was going through a pandemic. It’s the start of spring, where the trees are budding, and things are all in the process of starting over. The humans on this planet might be going through a pandemic, but the Earth itself is not. She is as strong and bright as ever. As we each learn to appreciate the things we’ve always taken for granted, life should be at the top of that list. And our life is made complete by the existence of nature and our home on Planet Earth. Earth Day and Arbor Day are just a reminder to do what we should’ve always been doing: loving our planet and keeping it strong for generations to come.

Read other articles by Emmy Jansen