Hoarding or trusting

Monday, March 16th, 2020

This coronavirus panic buying and loo roll hoarding has got me thinking.

It’s easy to judge. I have heard plenty of people wonder at how others can be ‘so selfish’. How can they strip shelves, with no thought for those on hand-to-mouth incomes? What about the elderly, those without a car who can only buy what they can carry?

But as I took my baby for a walk, and let the sun seep into my pores and soften me to the world, I looked deeper. And I saw another truth.

I hoard too.

Financially. Most the time, we call it savings, and we consider it to be sensible, a sign of success. But today I wondered about that.

 

What are we leaving our kids?

As I look out at this coronavirus world, and I wonder where we are headed, I’m reflecting on the world we will leave for our children.

A part of me, the protective mama, wants to give my kids comfort and security. I want them to inherit money, something that will cushion them from the blows of the world.

But if I have to choose, what do I want more? Do I want to leave my kids with money in their bank accounts? Or with rivers and streams that flow, clean and unpolluted? With air that fills their lungs with life? Oceans that shimmer with aliveness? Skies clear enough to see stars, to give them that wild wonder, the chance to contemplate our place in this symphony of life?

Do I want to leave them money, or hearts and minds big enough to see possibility? To create, to express, to sing, to wonder. With the skills to find their own way through a beautiful world?

What is more important, money or health? Many are quick to judge our government for prioritising the economy in this pandemic. But what about our own personal choices and decisions? What do they say about what we value most?

Trusting each moment

If we trusted life, and we trusted that we will always be supported in each moment (and our loved ones too), what choices would we make?

Would we hoard loo roll? Focus on our savings, and let the rainforest burn? Take a one-night work trip from London to NYC, at whatever cost to the atmosphere? Would we buy baby food in plastic throwaway pouches, so we can get back to work faster?

Or would we slow down? Make more conscious choices. Prioritise the health of the planet. And stop hoarding.

 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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