“Women are so adaptable. It’s truly amazing what we can get used to” – P. Claire Dodson
I started watching “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu over the weekend and in Season 2 Episode 3 the lead actress says that quote. She goes on to say that men are afraid that women are going to laugh at them and women are afraid that men are going to kill them…..holy hell.
It got me thinking….
Maybe it’s not just a gendered thing but a human thing. We can adapt. We’ve been adapting since the dawn of time. When the human race began, we had to figure out how to live in our environment. We’ve made great strives to advance our technologies, sciences and have even prolonged human life.
Now with the recent epidemic going around, we are having to adapt again to a life that not many of us could fathom happening in our generation. We’ve been lulled into a sense of security that we believed these things couldn’t happen to us. Meanwhile harsher realities exist throughout the world – people who have suffered their entire lives that this epidemic isn’t even a blip on the radar for them. We are privileged in that way.
I see a lot of people struggling to adapt whether it’s because they don’t believe they NEED to or just don’t feel like they have the ability or strength to, doesn’t really matter. That adaption process feels like it’s been bred out of some of us. Our refusal to obey is stronger than our will to survive under new circumstances/restrictions.
We have become undeniably selfish. I’ll be the first to admit that I am selfish. I’ve pushed people out of my life because I’m selfish. I’ve made certain decisions because I’m selfish. I’ve also put aside my selfishness to adapt and survive.
Personally, I’ve adapted to lots of different situations, becoming a sort of chameleon in a way. Sometimes to my own detriment and other times I believe I benefited from my adaptations.
We’ve become a generation of “yes” and “yolo” that being told no has been a struggle for a great number of people. They are even starting to cry out about it, holding protests, feeling like their freedom is being taken away.
Watching a show like Handmaid’s Tale really makes these protests somewhat laughable by comparison and also perspective altering. That having to stay in your home for many cannot be compared to the horrors that others have faced and will face in the future. It’s difficult for me to be sympathetic while others are suffering in silence.
The irony of it all is that staying home could actually save lives. This virus does not discriminate or even show symptoms right away, allowing seemingly healthy people to potential kill another human because they did not know they had it. That these protests appear disrespectful to a community of frontline workers who are, in fact, fighting daily to keep them and others alive and well. People who haven’t seen their families because they are exposed daily to the threat.
These people are helping to keep us alive by risking their lives going out every day. Some out of necessity and others out of duty. Without them, many of us couldn’t stay home.
Let’s not get distracted by the fact that we are being told to stay inside. It sucks, no one truly LIKES this. We are all struggling in some capacity – some more than others.
Ultimately, some of us will adapt and others will struggle. The choice is ours to make. Do we resist the change or do we follow the orders? Do we spend our time and energy behind a keyboard trying to fight people on the internet to change their minds or do we sit back and try to make the best of the situation? What the fuck are we supposed to do?
The longer these things go on, the more unrest their appears to be. I see people on my friends lists hurting, others revolting while some are thriving. How can I best serve them? My loved ones who are lost in all of this. Can I even help them at all?
Where do I fall in this madness? I’m staying home as much as I can. I’m over here trying to do my best. I’m not protesting. I’m not battling people on the internet. I’ve retreated into the safety of my home trying to work on myself some days, check in on people when I find the strength and other times I’m in bed and don’t want to get out.
I think we all are adaptable and if we can put our ego aside for a little bit, we might be able to see the bigger picture. The reality is that people are hurting. Some people hurt with anger while others hurt with silence. How do we help them even if we don’t agree with them? Maybe all we can do is lead by example and hope the rest falls into place.
What I do know for sure is that the only thing I can control is myself and what I do. So I’ll focus on that and find peace in that. I hope you do the same and we all get through this madness called Quarantine.
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