The streets are almost completely empty. Many shops are closed. Every school is closed too. Almost everybody in Malta is at home.
With all that is going on at the moment with regards to the COVID-19 situation, the silence all around the island has made me realise something. We deserve this.
Throughout the past years, we have been constantly abusing of Mother Nature, suffocating her with our toxic gases and tearing her apart with our actions – all just for an extra penny.
Now, she is simply getting her revenge. At the same time though, we have been given something that is worth much more than any amount of money. We have been given time to unwind, think and reflect.
Since I am a student, I have no school to attend to for at least the next week since all educational institutions have been temporarily shut down. I am finally finding some time to finish off things from my to-do-list, spend time with my family, catch up on studying, do some well needed reflection and calm myself down from the hectic life that I lead.
I also finally had the chance to go out for a short walk in a valley close to where I live. There was nobody around. My father came along and we spoke about how the area has changed throughout the years and how he remembers a time when, instead of the houses there are now, there were fields.
Imagining what it must have been like made me think, “What have we done to the world?” We have turned our greenery into monstrous box-like structures made of concrete and cement. We forgot our heritage. We turned our simple lives into complex ones. All because of our naturally greedy characters.
We have hurt Mother Nature greatly. And we still are. Yet at this point in time, we are all weak at her feet. Thanks to COVID-19, the world is doing quite well with regards to environmental issues. Traffic has decreased, which reduces congestion and enhances air quality. Many are working from home, which decreases the usage of electricity and water in workplaces. Noise pollution and waste production from areas like Paceville have decreased. Could this be Mother Nature’s way of telling us to calm down? Who knows.
My advice to you is to make sure to follow all the precautions that the authorities are recommending in order to assure that everyone remains safe and healthy. If you need to unwind by going out for a walk among nature, make sure to go somewhere where you are all alone. Otherwise it would go against the whole point of distancing yourself from others to prevent the spread of the virus.
The ideal thing to do would be to stay at home. If you still do not know what activities you can engage in while stuck indoors, I suggest getting things off of your to-do-list, reading a book, catching up on work or studying, writing a song, writing a poem, making memes, watching a film or starting a new series. Just make sure you spend your time wisely. Do the things that you never found time to do.
Stay safe and take care of yourselves and those around you.
Bradley Cachia 