The journey of life
For me, life is an interval of time between birth and death.
There are many ways of undertaking such a trip, and a common manner of seeing it is as if we were on a train.
After we are born, the train starts its voyage. On it, initially we will find ourselves with our closest loved ones, such as our parents, siblings and other family members. Throughout the journey we live unique experiences, both good and bad, as part of a perfect balance within the Creation itself. If we come to think about it, we do not know about the destinations to be visited as we travel, nor about the stops we will make. The only thing that’s certain is that either they will happen in order to say goodbye to someone, or to welcome them. This only proves, just as I said before, that life is just like a journey aboard a train.
As time passes by, we interact with all those that ride along with us on the train. They teach us the initial layout of our journey, and we learn many things from their experience. Each stop gives us the chance of acquiring new knowledge, and it is in us to be willing, consciously, to hold and practice everything we’ve discovered thus far. This growing process should by no means disturb or interfere, in a negative manner, with the rest of the passengers on the train, neither with our environment, where other living beings dwell into their personal and much needed space.
If we, the human species, highly intelligent beings, would have respected the perfect balance the Creation has, we wouldn’t be seeing the progressive destruction of our planet and its surroundings.
De-accelerating our lives was imminent, both in an individual and social manner. This is due to our trespassing, occupation and destruction of many natural areas, even outside the physical barriers of our world, and we have generated the same disastrous realities with the other living beings that peacefully coexist with us.
Year 2020: A surprising stop
In our journey inside the train of life, the visit of a fellow named COVID-19 has become a surprising stop. Nonetheless, the current difficult situation we are living has provided us with a great opportunity to reflect on our behavior and modify it in order to undo most of the terrible damage we have inflicted upon our planet.
This way, we have plenty of time to rethink and prepare ourselves for when the train resumes its onward voyage. We do not know yet when it will happen, but as we wait, we can think and practice many long-forgotten values and virtues such as patience, solidarity and love. Also, we can appreciate further our individual and collective freedom, as well as share chores, duties and important moments of sadness and joy in our family nucleus.
This difficult situation, sad for some and boring for others (and mortal for many, which deserve our prayers for their families and their souls), has undoubtedly led us through a new route, sustainable in the long term, both in the individual and collective journey of life. We cannot go back to normal, because that “normal” was precisely the problem. We must become aware, keeping on evolving and respecting the natural balance of our environment.
Here on Tripsst! we want to create awareness over this peculiar moment we are all living worldwide, on which the daily trips have been restricted to ever-reducing spaces inside our own homes. Although they have meant a significant reduction in movement, they have also allowed us to regain everything that we had once lost to the stressful lives we normally live, such as the possibility of sharing with our family and really enjoying our home.
Our planet breathes better thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic
The de-acceleration of the world’s economies has had a significant impact over the environment. A drastic reduction on pollution and its subsequent greenhouse effect has been registered in several regions of the planet. But this situation, albeit a good one, could become short-lived if we don’t achieve a truly global conscience.
As it was stated by the French expert on climate change, Hervé Le Treut: “There will be a before and after coronavirus, on a climatic scale. The pandemic and those measures are taken in order to counterbalance it has created a psychological shock in our societies. There will be consequences in environmental policy. Definitely, the coronavirus-caused crisis and climate change are similar. Whenever we are facing a catastrophe, powerful decisions are made.”
In the global family of travelers to which Tripsst! belongs, we aim for the recovery of not only those who have been affected by the pandemic, but also for the recovery of our environment and, therefore, our beautiful planet.
Let us be ready to start again our train ride and begin a new route, one that is less selfish and more caring for the communities and people that surrounds us.
