I only heard it again this morning. "Well, now you really realise what really counts in life." It's exactly what's going through my head. What is actually worth how much to me in times of corona - emotionally, materially and physically?
Being able to sit in a café, eat in a restaurant with friends, attend appointments in person, travel? Of course, all of this is nice and important and hopefully possible again soon. Nevertheless, a lot is happening to me at the moment. My very own standards are shifting. If someone is now interested in how I'm doing - how wonderful! Did I not realise before that there are people who really want to know? Or did I simply overlook the signs before?
Really free
I'm noticing a lot of new things in general. For example, how wonderful it is to have a whole weekend off. Really free - without thinking about all the things that still need to be done. Instead, I do revolutionary things! I explore my city extensively on foot and get to know places I've never been to before.
What I'm trying to say is that it's not the usual status symbols such as 'my house, my car, my career' that really enrich our lives. It's the supposedly small things. Simply looking at what is really important, being mindful of ourselves and the people around us. If this time manages to get us there, then it's a good thing.
In her poem 'Values' from 1977, the poet Eva Strittmatter wrote about "how beautiful life would be if we learnt again to take a deep breath, to see the beauty, to appreciate what is worth living for, to live with love."
Values
"The good things in life
Are all free of charge:
The air, the water, the love.
How do we do that?
Thinking life is expensive,
When the main things are free?
This is due to early cooling.
We only enjoyed it as children
The air according to their values
And water as a life gain.
And the love that is not honoured,
We accepted it with ease.
We rarely breathe properly
And breathe in the time,
We live hastily and importantly
And drink wine instead of water.
And making love
We are a duty and a burden.
And life is too expensive for him,
Who takes it too cheaply."