Extra bandwidth is literally more important than ever
Hi!
With a slow first month in my new job, I have spare time to keep myself updated about the world. Unfortunately, almost everything is revolving around the Covid outbreak, and I find myself watching it unfold around the world.
In the first few days of the virus appearing, it was scary to think about what it would be like to be locked down in Wuhan. Yet the emotional impact was limited. Such a tough response was expected of China. I was less connected to Chinese media. Most of all, it seemed like with these drastic measures in the epicenter, the end would be in sight soon. DORSCON orange in Singapore felt like the peak. I was concerned, took precautions, but did not think we would enter a world breaking event. We were still watching the news to consider if we could take that weekend trip to Bangkok in February. At some points it felt like normalcy would return soon as we had days with more discharges than new cases.
Yet those hopes eroded day by day as the crisis escalated in the rest of the world. Life has changed drastically not only for one city in China, but for everyone. If we are lucky, 2020 will feel like a pause on life moving forward. Unfortunately for many, 2020 is looking to be a painful year.
Lockdowns, social distancing, closed borders, working from home. Sectors of the economy left in a standstill, stock markets in the red, panic buying. This has all been a wake up call how vulnerable our lives are. In these times, having spare capacity to tide out a crisis has never been more important. It gives us bandwidth to stay calm, act responsibly, and keep our humanity.
Capacity in terms of money is surely important, but it is not the only form. Capacity is also about relationships, spending quality time with family and friends while we have the chance. It is about health, staying healthy and strengthening our bodies. It is mental, learning the skills we want to learn when we can, and learning to deal with our stresses and to be bored. It is aspirational, to try and materialize our dreams instead of procrastinating. Build these now, so that we won't be distracted by regret or forced to rush at the last minute.
The sad reality is that building capacity is difficult. The challenges of daily life leave most with little time to accumulate excess bandwidth. I feel that the underlying structure of society not only fails to facilitate it, but that it intentionally creates these challenges to the benefit of few. Within this system, we all struggle to maximise productivity just to get by. Going further to build capacity requires a razor sharp focus to actively learn to prioritise, reduce desires, and learn to live with less.
I am thankful I have had enough chances to build up capacity that I am not distressed or suffering. I am grateful for my stable career which pays me enough, for good health and good health of those around me. I feel lucky that I live in Singapore, where the institutional response has thus far been efficient and effective, such that we can all maintain a semblance of normal lives.
However, I know that there are many who do not have this privilege. They are doing their best simply to get by each day, and have no chance to build up reserves even if they want to. Every day this drags out increases their risks and exposes their vulnerability more. I worry very much for them. More so than ever, I feel that the frameworks of society need to be renegotiated, and better opportunity given to everyone.
It is hard to tell if the world that emerges after this crisis will have changed for the better. Unfortunately we humans do have a tendency to forget bad times quite easily, especially if we are not the ones most affected. Hopefully we avoid this. We make the best out of this situation to think about how to be better humans and build a better world.
For my friends in Singapore, while we are still maintaining that normalcy of life, I hope you all are using this chance to get prepared for the possibility that this gets worse, and we have to make even more changes. Unfortunately for those reading from elsewhere, where movement has been restricted, I hope that you all are able to tide this over well.
I would much like to know how best I can do my part to help in these trying days. Do drop me a message if you know of anyone who needs help, or how I can contribute. If this has caused you think harder about the state of our world and have ideas for change, please share them too.
Stay safe!
James
About Ideothetic Flow
Ideothetic Flow is a small passion project following my own thoughts about living life better. Every 2 weeks I share something I find interesting, usually related to mental models which challenge common expectations or ideas.