Coronavirus: Man Plans, God Laughs, Nature Sighs

By Geoff Peck

It’s a great time in history. We’ve never had so much opportunity, or so many options. Never has travel been easier, or food been cheaper, or better, or more varied, from everywhere in the world. And, never have we had more chance to explore, or indulge in any pursuit, intellectual or otherwise, anything that our hearts and minds can dream up.

We have everything. We’re healthier, wealthier, fully employed, holidayed, connected and more stimulated than ever before. We visited big chunks of the globe, in comfort. Science built us with cars, TVs, smartphones, computers, airplanes and houses full of every mod con imaginable, with more to come. We even have freedoms, protection, education, safety nets, medicines (whether we needed them or not), and we’ve not worried about war, or famine, oppression or persecution. We choose how we spend our time, professionally and personally, and our money, and we love our families and friends. This will be labelled a golden age, a wonderful time to be alive.

Or will it.

Perhaps we’ve got just a little carried away with ourselves. Maybe we should be more careful. Because for those that have, there’s those that have not. For all the focus on worldly goods, happiness was left to chance, or taken for granted, not always with the results we wanted. Mental wellbeing is not a given even in the leafiest suburb.

And there’s a price to pay, because we borrowed. We borrowed money, tons of it, from governments to the unemployed, to the unemployable. When we ran out, they made more, and the house of cards grew taller. Our numbers exploded, as did our consumption, and waste. We pumped a ton of carbon into the atmosphere last year, each one of us, for each of the last twenty years. We took from the planet without consideration – well, a little consideration, mostly lip service – while our technology helped us take more, faster, and sell it anywhere. Even our accounting standards say taking from the earth is free. It’s not. We live beyond our means, all seven and a half billion of us, and growing. David Attenborough tells us that tackling climate change is not about saving the planet, it’s about saving us. Still, little changes. We carry on regardless.

Until now.

Coronavirus is the first wakeup call most of us ever had to face. Where’s our plan? We always have a plan. Not this time. We were on such a roll that ‘risk’ had disappeared, unprepared for a pandemic. We thought we were bulletproof, but God knew better and laughed.

But then he always did work in mysterious ways. The people vanished inside, the roads emptied, as did the skies, and the air cleared, if only for a while. He gave us time to reflect, more time than we expected. Clearly, we’re not as clever as we thought we were, or as much in control. He’s gave us time to connect, or reconnect, or rediscover what we should never have disconnected from in the first place, mother earth. She sighs, momentarily relieved from the full burden of serving us, and awaits our response.

The opportunity is there to reconnect with her. She gave us that, or he did, it doesn’t matter which. If we reconnect with her, we reconnect with ourselves, as a species, as integral and interwoven to the plundered planet that says we’re just plundering ourselves, or our children. We may never pay back the money – it’s all made up anyway – but with the planet, we can’t keep robbing Peter so that Paul can go on another long-haul boozy holiday with his mates, on tick.

Lockdown gave us time to reconnect with her on a personal level too. The spring blossom on the apple tree in the garden, the warn sunshine after the winter, the animals, a hedgehog, the birds, the moon and Venus, so bright in the evening sky, night after night. Normally these would pass me by, but she’s a solace, all of it, she, nature, the earth, reminding me powerfully of her tranquility, her richness, how much I love her, and her role. With coronavirus, she invites me to reconnect with her, reminding me she’s always there, and that we need her.

She’s given herself a breather and us a chance. She’s asking us to take note, slow down a little, see the big picture, pay our dues and be smart. Plan long term, our children’s children, be sustainable, stop running amok, be resilient, work with her, enjoy simpler pleasures.

Right now, I feel connected. I get it. Will it last for me? Will it last for mankind, once the merry-go-round starts again. I have no idea. I hope so. It needs to. We all need it to. I will. I’m thankful.

Geoff is passionate about our planet. He has shared his love of its wild places with his three children, one at a time, once a year for more than a decade. That's more than thirty trips with backpacks, canoe paddles, paniers and snow shoes across four continents, and they're not finished yet. Geoff and family are also part owners and supporters of a private wilderness and game reserve in Botswana, reintroducing rhino, wild dog and lion to their former habitats.

© Geoff Peck, all rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without prior written consent.