New good habits need to be cultivated. The cyclone Coronavirus has swept our habits and nevertheless we have been able to make a virtue of necessity. Strong in culture and the memory - which are our strength - we resist what is necessary, what the experts tell us to resist. And, after all, on balance, we could come out even better.
New habits
We found ourselves forced at home, in the company of our good intentions, and this time, unlike the usual sailor's promises, we had to put them into practice for real. We have come to terms with an uphill present, but the spirit of conservation has kept us straight.
As Italians we can count on a solid grid of values, on a generous family and friends network, and it is not cheap. There we are promised to take better care of our grandparents, that before the crisis we never went to find enough. Now seeing them only on video makes us heart. At the same time, many seniors have learned to make video calls, and are enthusiastic about it. Not being able to go out, especially if affected by chronic diseases, many have learned to make bread at home dusting off ancient recipes.
Good habits after the Coronavirus
We understood how important neglected affects are and how important are the little things. The imprisonment required that much physical activity on us, and we benefited from it. Giving up a good acquired habit would be foolish. Why not continue afterwards? Exercising with relaxing background music?
Dusting off old CDs, vinyls that we may not remember having, was wonderful. And the thrill of the needle on the turntable would be nice to savor it tomorrow too, wouldn't it? Lurking there was and still is that thread of anxiety, a little nervousness that threatens to wear us out, but we also figured out how to keep them at bay. The network came to our aid. We tried to do breathing exercises, yoga classes, autogenic training. Good habits, saints, why give them up?
Grandparents and grandchildren
Our bookstores and online shopping have given us a hand. With reading they took us to new worlds to be explored. Many have been forced to stay at home with their children. Following them in their homework was complicated, but beautiful, and new. The good habit of spending that little extra time with the children could be an excellent glue for the future. Not being able to go out and buy what we wanted, we repaired, mended and stitched up. We have used social media responsibly, not just to play, but to give and receive comfort, advice. Relationships in general have changed, but it's not the first time. Prudence and common sense are with us and will do so again in the future. We used to look out of the window or balcony and look without seeing. For some time we have learned to really greet, with our eyes, as well as with our voice, absently.
Love in the time of the Coronavirus
At the window we discovered “the neighborhood”. Before we ran in a distracted way, looking straight ahead, without noticing the lives that flowed alongside ours. We discovered solidarity in the neighborhoods, and we must not forget it or abandon it. Loves were born, with the promise of meeting, even at the cost of indefinite expectations. It means that we are cultivating feelings, and patience, watering new relationships with prudent tenderness. The Latins said nature non facit saltus, it means that the cycle of life does not accept forcing. Here, we are to some extent reconnecting to the rhythms of life and nature itself. In the great difficulty, it is as if we are getting sick with a strange new form of common sense. Let's not heal it. Let's spread it. Making it last.
