And the people healed And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. - Kitty O'Meara
When I read this poem three weeks ago, I thought, could this be the bigger picture? Could this be the universe or mother earth's backlash or blessing to us in this pandemic storm??? The fact that thousands of people have died and perhaps millions more is a big price to pay for the world to heal, but there is increasing evidence that the pause in humanity has been good for the earth. Scientists have confirmed that the ozone layer has started healing due to global self isolation measures.
Here are some other findings: -According to Forbes magazine pictures of clean Venetian canals, dolphins in Cagliari, and swans in Milan. -NASA has announced air pollution has dropped in popular tourist spots. -Stephen Hicks, a faculty member in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College, noted the seismic activity has lessened. -Marine life in the oceans have shown less stress because of reduced noise. -Birds can be heard singing in Wuhan and all around the world. -The reduction in noise pollution has been good for humans as well, reducing stress filled ailments, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances and other problems. It’s eerie that this pause in humanity has allowed the Earth to heal. Perhaps this pause will help us to reflect on what humanity has done to hurt the earth and what we can do to continue to heal. “And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed..”