(I will change the picture once I have my film camera working already hehe)
I still vividly remember the day when the president imposed the quarantine lockdown nationwide due to an unexpected breakout of a newly identified virus – the Coronavirus, or commonly known as the Covid19. The school year 2019-2020 was about to end and the summer was edging just around the corner. I still remember seeing a crowd of people at MRT, bus and jeepney terminals trying to get a ride to their way home. And then there’s me, planning on how to keep myself occupied for a month as we are all going to be stuck in our homes. One month isn’t long, I thought. But then, one month became two months, and then four until I lost track; And voila! It’s December now.
As we question ourselves if when and will we ever go back to the same way it was before the pandemic, it’s important that we take a step back and ask ourselves of what have we learned during this hardest times to help build back a better world. When I asked myself, “What is the greatest lesson I’ve learned during this pandemic?”. I really thought deep in silence of what answer I will come up. As I wander through the random thoughts of my mind, I noticed how I spent my time in the whole 9 months of lockdown. The same cycle each day that pass – from binge-watching several Netflix series, to strumming my guitar, sleeping for more than 8 hours, eating at any time I like, and even starting a blogging website! But what I really noticed is how privilege I am to just sit around at our house, scrolling the social media, liking and sharing anything I see. I was completely flabbergasted by the idea of being out of touch from reality! Since then, I never looked at things the same way again.
So if you ask me if what is the greatest lesson I’ve learned during this pandemic, it is having the capacity to acknowledge all my privileges and share it kindly to the people around me. And I think it’s important that one should learn to recognize the privilege they have – the practice of becoming comfortably open to critiquing and accepting these unearned advantages. It is a constant process that requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-reflection. Privilege is almost unnoticed due to normalization of society, and when discussed, it oftentimes leads to defensiveness, furiousness and/or guilt. One will ask, “What’s rewarding about acknowledging privileges?”, and my reply would be: “to appreciate better”. Because it’s true, you will appreciate everything that’s around you far better once you learn its value. It’s sad that we don’t often realize how some people would go through hardships to attain the things that comes naturally to us. And it’s even more sad and frustrating when we complain and blame them for not running in the same pace as us, not fully recognizing the imbalances that we are a part of. So yes, acknowledging privileges gives you a chance to look at things at a different perspective. It makes you appreciate even the littlest things you have and shapes you into a more understanding and emphatic person.
So take this moment to take a deep breath and look around you. What are the things that puts you at an advantage to others, and what can you do about it to help the less fortunate?
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