Loss of Control and The Cataclysm of Life | katthicktv

Loss of Control and The Cataclysm of Life

March 19th, 2020

I had intended to do some writing these last few days but I got swamped with some work for research as well as playing a TON of Minecraft and Stardew Valley. Both are super fun and I recommend them! Also, please note that this blog post is the perspective of someone who is privileged in the sense that I do not know of anyone affected by COVID-19.

These last 2-3 weeks have been insane: exams, projects due, coronavirus, classes cancelled, colleges shut down, world on lockdown, cancelled spring break plans, political chaos, and a whole lot of damage control. I haven’t really even had much time to breathe, let alone sit down and write a blog post reflecting on how my semester has been going (and I’m not sure if it’s even going to progress anymore!) Let me give you a brief run-down of all the stuff that went down in the past few days:

It’s quite remarkable how everything was going just fine and then all of a sudden, everything just goes to shit. It’s safe to say that for most of us, our lives have been turned upside down within the past few weeks. I’m currently stuck at home, restricted from going out during the day and being forced to focus on my “education” which really just involves staying at one place and watching Zoom lectures for the next two months. I honestly wish I could just go to Austin but I don’t even know if that’s possible. I want my life to return to normal, but this is one of those historic moments in which everyone is being affected across the board. In times like these, we can only do our best to focus on what we can control.

This entire situation has gotten me to think deeply about how many of us claim to have “control” in our lives. We all have this false sense of security in the things that we do. Sure, if we work hard, we will have success right? Nope. The world is incredibly unfair and we can really only react to the things that are being thrown to us. A few of us will have the right circumstances to knock curveballs to home-runs, where as the rest will focus on first getting their footing right. Right now, we’re all universally tackling a common enemy: COVID-19, a virus that has turned society upside down. While the situation has been handled quite poorly by many governments around the world, there’s not much that we can really do but to elect the right people in charge. (I don’t want to get political, but things definitely should have been handled more maturely.)

I’m deviating from my main point of discussion, oops.

My point is, we have no control of certain external factors in our lives. You couldn’t have predicted the COVID-19 outbreak. There was and is nothing that you can do except be as responsible as you can in the current moment. To the younger population who has less risk of serious complications: nothing you do is going to give you back the senior year that you desired or the time that you wanted to spend with your friends in college. These things are simply out of control. All you can do is focus on reacting appropriately and doing what you can with this time at home. Learn some new hobbies, connect with your family more, ask for some stories about what your parents did when they were younger and focus on the positives of what you can do with the cards that have been dealt to you right now. Time is so valuable so at least use it to get some clarity in your thought process. If not, try your best to make the best of it! To those who are suffering to COVID-19 or have relatives who are suffering: this is a horrible moment for you to go through. I hope that all resolves well soon enough.

These panic scenarios tend to bring out the worst in people. Everything is fine and dandy until the plague hits and that’s when we see the true intentions/colors of our neighbors. These situations are stressful because they test the true characters of society. It’s easy to be nice and friendly to everyone, but when the chips are down and everyone’s survival instincts kick in, what will you do? I think right now we’re seeing some of that barbaric nature from hoarders at supermarkets, etc. You’ll see how good people are to you when the stakes are high. There’s an excellent quote from the Joker in The Dark Knight:

“You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these… these civilized people, they’ll eat each other. See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.”

We can’t really do much about COVID-19 except for keeping our cool. We’re in no dire situation yet and it’s probably best to handle everything as rationally as possible. For the students out there who are bored out of their minds, take this time to deeply reflect about your lives. In the midst of this chaos, there are always opportunities to think differently and take things to the best of our advantage (not talking about screwing other people over.) For example, it’s quite remarkable to see how the internet has truly served its purpose by connecting people who live all over the place during this quarantine-period. Companies such as Zoom, have capitalized on the mission of connecting large groups of people effectively with a great solution. This is just an example, but there is always a bright side to situations like this, at least from the macroscopic perspective. 2020 has been a tumultuous year within its first 3 months, but at least it’ll be a memorable one to talk about to the future generations.