Observing the world during the past 24 months, it seems that the most apparent hibernating species is not the commonly perceived, good-old garden-variety bear, but instead the Homo Sapien.
Ever since the COVID pandemic began, public spaces around the world became less and less crowded, with people staying in their own homes all the time. Schools and work were postponed or switched quickly to online.
According to cnbc.com, people looking for online jobs increased 460 percent in 2 years, between June, 2019 and June, 2021). There was also a 15-fold increase in the number of new registrations on the online course website, edX, during April 2020.
For me, ever since the virus started, I have hardly ever left my neighbourhood, buying any required materials online, chatting with my friends and studying through digital means. We became the bears, hibernating in our caves with our supply of websites, Zoom calls, and online courses, during the long-lasting winter of COVID.
However, just as hibernation allows animals to get ready for springtime and prepare for the warmth and birth of the new organisms that it brings, this human hibernation could also allow our global society to prepare for new changes in life in the post-COVID era.
So, what have Chinese people been up to while hibernating in their homes? According to statista.com, the most activity during COVID in China is surfing the internet, with 78.7 percent of female and 73 percent of male survey participants claiming so. Next up comes chatting, gaming and sleeping.
While these activities may not seem like the most productive, they have allowed us to look within ourselves and at others in a clearer perspective.
Hibernation has given us time to reflect and think deeply about things we think of as significant, such as our goals in life and important relationships, as well as the things we enjoy doing. Unable to go to school in early 2020, I had more time to consider my goals, plans and my true interests, which, in a way, made my room my own special cave. Here, I stored winter supplies, such as bullet journals or my stationary while I waited, using them to bring about better changes in the spring to come.
Secondly, consider the smallest things that happen in our daily lives, as compared to the huge pandemic hanging over our heads. Who has not wondered as to their health and how they are still alive on this Earth today?
For me personally, I am most thankful for that I still have people who are happy to be with me, such as friends and family. This hibernation period has also allowed me to keep in touch with some of my old friends in a city where I formerly lived.
It all amounts to the steps of change that lead to a warmer, happier spring.
