A year of grieving our losses and celebrating our victories;The one takeaway that we can all learn from the pandemic

Nikita Lodha Raghav

If the pandemic were a Netflix series, everyone could write an episode filled with terror, drama, emotions, bereavement, and frustration on several levels. More than a year later with the type of news floating around in India, loss of lives and job layoffs, we suddenly found ourselves more connected to each other than ever before, more aware of no matter who you are, we are all the same. We are more compassionate, humanitarian, and resilient. Learning lessons about love, acceptance, connections, and gratitude and the most important – purification of ego and slowing down. All these things which spiritual teachers teach in our culture are thrusted upon us by the great teacher called Universe, the higher intelligence.

With zoom calls and face masks being the new normal, not having conversations with a friend in coffee shop or even the barista for that matter is daunting. After my mom’s long and draining battle with Covid, I remember calling in a restaurant in Mumbai recently and requesting them to just let me sit in there with my family and have food, I was obviously denied. After the anger and the unfairness of this entire situation we must keep ourselves aware that we are still breathing and well, and thank God, healthy, all the people we love are healthy, vaccinated and well. Not that vaccine nullifies the chances of Covid but staying well mentally and physically should be our number one priority.

2021 we are not just talking about Covid, we are discussing mental issues too because let us face it, Covid and social distancing made us lonely. Being forced to stay away from people and scrolling on social media it reminded me of what drew me to them in the first place and what else needs a cleanup.

So, a year of beginning of Covid to being stuck in a foreign land for months and lockdown being suddenly announced; from vaccines manufacturing worldwide to getting married in 5 people setting, from getting vaccinated with two shots and the Indian government planning to launch a study on mixing of different vaccines, to starting the next chapter of my new life, I have learned the greatest lesson that I could never have learned so well in a spiritual retreat, or a book. The lesson is called ‘’The Art of letting go.’’ Amid everything, there is now a blank canvas, with new chapters to be painted. It might now feel that our hands are tied, and you cannot paint on that canvas, but if you try to take a closer look and trust life into a bigger plan, we can let go and let flow.