One of the things about me, is that I have a very negative outlook on life. I’ve never hid the fact I feel I’d be better off having never existed, nor had I ever been bothered about my death.
Life is shit and the world seems like shit too. I have tried hard to be the best person I can, yet can never get the step up I need. All whilst seeing others take advantage of people and get further up the ladder.
You get told all the time that you need to be ruthless to get ahead, but that just isn’t me. Now that isn’t to say I am perfect, far from it. I have made more mistakes than I can count and made some crap decisions.
I could just blame a capitalist society and take it all away from myself, but that would be a lie. I do take some responsibility in my own demise. But still, when I look at how people get to the top and see it is all about earning more and more money at the expense of betterment for others, it makes me sad.
So with current events and the outbreak of Covid-19, amongst the pain and suffering I have seen something that makes me think there could be a better world coming.
You just have to look across social media to see the good that is happening. From Gary Neville opening up his hotels to NHS staff to Bauer pausing making hockey equipment to provide safety equipment to medical staff in North America. It is wonderful to see.
In our world, we are seeing games developers and publishers are making games either super cheap, or 100% free across all platforms. Providing us with the entertainment and distractions needed to remain at home.
Sure some of it may be aimed at getting good PR, but it still gives a warm feeling inside. There are many cases from well known sources, such as celebrities, sports stars and major companies, but it is the smaller acts that have really hit home and shown the human spirit at its best.
On a personal level. I coach football to Under 13s and those kids are missing being able to play games and more specifically meet up at training. It has left a huge hole in their lives, that they are unsure when it will be filled again.
So taking inspiration from my son’s (13) hockey coaches and other coaches from other sports all over the world, I have started creating little challenges for the kids to take part in. Nothing serious and just a bit of fun.
My daughter (3) goes to a toddler football session every Friday afternoon and her coaches there are putting on the sessions remotely. All free of charge too. Her face when she saw her favourite coach was lovely to see.
I’ve seen various online course made free, books available for free. One great one was a beginners sign language course which I thought was a brilliant thing. Which also got me to thinking about how stuff like this should be taught to children from the moment they start school. Teachers trained how to talk verbally and sign at the same time. Break down that barrier for deafness.
Everywhere you look there have been acts of kindness. Local communities have set up groups to help those who are vulnerable and cannot get out. From minor things such as getting the paper, to doing shops and collecting medication.
Even when I have had to go out to get a food shop in, there has been more or a friendlier atmosphere in general. It seems people have been forced to slow down and are seeing their neighbours and fellow humans for the first time.
There is a sense of community that I personally haven’t felt for as long as I can remember. I hope this isn’t just temporary and is something we can build on once all this is over. Let’s not go back to how thing used to be.
I was going to touch on the financial side of all this, but I’ll save that for another article. As I have a lot of thoughts on that. Which I am not saying are correct, but they are how I feel.
Anyway. Back to the subject in hand. I can hear some of you…”But Brad, people are still abusing others online and there are plenty of nasty ones out there”… To that I say. “Yep, you are correct”
However, the difference is, that there has been a shift. Look at the same social media even a few short weeks ago (pre March 2020) and it is mainly full of vitriol and hate. We discussed the abuse aimed at the likes of Jameela Jamil and Ash Sakar. Plus the campaign of abuse that led to the tragic suicide of Caroline Flack.
You still see the abuse aimed at the same people, but for me at least, you are seeing less of it and much more positivity appearing. It isn’t perfect but it is a start. We have to start somewhere and have something to build from and I think this could be it.
Covid-19 is a terrible thing, but let’s use it to create a better future where we share our talents, our creativity and more for a better world and not just to line our pockets. The world may seem like it is going to shit right now, but the world could crawl through a tunnel of shit and maybe, just maybe, come out clean the other end.
Image courtesy of Andrea Tummons @krewellah87
