We were living in an Orwellian snowglobe. Our seemingly peaceful microcosm was suddenly shaken, forcefully, and obscured by frenzied particles. The frenzy was mesmerizing, but startling in its reach, and the particles, invisible and deadly, seemed as though they lurked everywhere. For many, their sphere was shattered and will never go back to seemingly peaceful. Before the shakeup, ‘Before All of This’, is a memory now.
Because our habits and routines were broken, and the way forward is still not clear, we find ourselves in a rare moment discussing what “After All of This” will, or should, look like. We’ve seen congestion-free highways and smog-free capitals, reminding us how pleasant the world could be if the car was not king. A mother fox walked the streets of my neighbourhood with her young fumbling around her, having reclaimed her luxurious stroll in a human-free environment. While enormous fiscal and social forces will be ruthless arbiters of our next steps, can we use the solidarity and social action that comforts us now – on social media and in our communities – in a way that achieves this Excaliburian goal?? Let’s start with where we were Before All of This.
The month before the deadly virus reached North America, a blockage of a critical rail link between Montreal and Toronto by protesters in support of the Wet’suwet’en caused the largest disruption in Canadian rail history. Layoffs quickly followed at CN and Via Rail as train traffic was stopped for weeks. I was on my way to Ottawa less than 24 hours after the protests started. I hadn’t heard about the rail blockages until we arrived at Union Station and the information board was full of blinking numbers and the word DELAYED echoed across it. The delay of our train was a shakeup to our plans, but the hard slap gave me pause to dig deeper into the reasons why there were protests to begin with. What is the difference between council chiefs and hereditary chiefs? Why were the Tyendenaga Mohawks in Ontario standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en on the other side of the country? Only when my weekend was disrupted, did I pause and listen. The First Nations, once again, had to use forceful means to be heard.
Going back in time further, to just a month before the protests, we witnessed the death by fire of over one billion animals in Australia. Some endangered species may now be extinct. It wasn’t long before the Australian fires that California was engulfed in flames. Though I would have probably never encountered one of those now extinct creatures, I know that diversity in all things is the machine of wisdom. The more we are exposed to different things, the more there is to learn, and the more we learn, the wiser we become. Those fires took with them wisdom, and since climate change was at least partially responsible for the fires, we all had a hand in this loss. Paradise was sadly paved, and then it was reduced to ash. Did we pause and hear the cries?
There is a thread that connects First Nations wisdom and climate renewal, and COVID 19 has helped bring it to light. The virus has forced the world to pause, and in that pause, the song of our shared humanity has been heard by many. We are awakened to the ties that bind us together, to the cathartic connections that we share within our families, our communities and with people around the world. In its simplest form, our shared humanity means that my health during this pandemic affects your health. In its grandest form, it is an acknowledgement of a mutual benefit that starts with respect for one another. But our shared humanity is only durable in the long term if, as the ecotheologian Thomas Berry tells us, we embrace the ‘universe as a communion of subjects that are human and nonhuman alike, not as a collection of objects’ to be used and abused. The people of the First Nations have known this for generations, and they hold this wisdom as sacred. Isn’t it ironic that the virus that awoke us to this communion looks like a planet with explosions over its entire surface? Our awakening is a stepping-stone to rebuilding a new relationship with each other and our planet. Do we have the courage to forge this new path?
There is a reluctance in many circles to talk about difficult issues that we think do not impinge on our daily life or financial interests. Indigenous issues, climate issues are just a couple of examples, but income inequality and affordable housing would fit here too. This was the case before COVID 19, and is even more the case now, with everyone’s attention on stopping the spread. However, we have been in terribly fraught relationships with First Nations, the earth and our comparative net worth; we know that the path Before all of This was simply not working. We are starting to see that these issues do, in fact, impact the safety and healthy of our children’s daily life and their financial interests. As the Anishinaabe writer Tanya Talaga notes, “for the good of all our children – Indigenous and not – the hard work must begin.”
Our next steps will be terribly compounded by the dire economic forecasts. But this awakening and relationship building can start will a simple investment of time. Time to educate ourselves about both sides of the issue, reaching out to those in the know with questions and concerns, and becoming engaged with organizations that are working on the frontlines as well as government. In the coming weeks and months, I will share my journey here towards greater understanding and action.
Thanks for reading these thoughts. Patt
Really enjoyed reading your blog Patty. I think a lot of us are thinking along the same lines. I wrote an editorial March 27th that had a yogic slant but really echoes a lot of what you have to say. (You can check that out here https://canadianyogi.com/editorial-1) I really hope that what we’ve been learning in the last few months is not “forgotten” in a post-COVID world and that we can keep the impetus for dealing with the difficult issues and working for positive change alive.
If we don’t learn from the lessons of Covid, climate change and an unfair/unequal economy and balance of power between the people and corporate powers, and between those with privilege and those on the fringes, we are doomed.
This is the opportunity for a major reset. Let us open and embrace this. One person and one household at a time will do it. And thanks to those brave enough to protest.
Great article Patty, my pal. Keep them coming! LYMI