Covid19 Contagion: What can we learn here?

My father died on January 12th and I traveled for his funeral.
I am  grateful that my father died in January.  Of course, I wish he were still alive but if he had to die this year, I am glad it was before travel was difficult to impossible because of the contagion, this Coronavirus.
I am glad he was spared the ripping away of the illusion of our freedoms.  He knew it could happen, he was alive when the father of our current Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, declared Martial Law in response to the FLQ crisis.  He knew that all rights can be suspended, all events cancelled, people's lives interrupted and their civil liberties curtailed or taken indefinitely as befits the powers that be.  He knew.
I knew that in theory too. 
But the experiencing of it is somewhat different.  I am hardly a world traveler.  But this March Break, I briefly flirted with a trip to Iceland, which has always intrigued me.  I had an odd feeling about booking it and ended up deciding against it, which saved me from hours on the phone canceling the trip 
Yet it is one thing to decide against it yourself, it is another to have a closure (or several) ruin it; It is another to have your workplace, or your government tell you not to take the trip.  That is a first for Canadians in recent memory.
Other firsts for Canadians
Having your livelihood suspended is also a first  I do know what it is like to lose a job due to downsizing or attrition, but to be not coming back to work, due to an illness in the community is something else.  Some Canadians are in this boat.  My District is on March Break for two weeks.  I don't know what will happen after that.  How long the illness will run and how serious it will become before it peaks, I don't know.
What I do know is that Canadians have for the first time in most people's memory experienced shortages - toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other items are simply unavailable.  Some people bought out of necessity, some out of fear and a very few out of the hope of capitalizing on other people's need.  Capitalism at low ebb does not look pretty, does it?
This virus is timely 
What do I mean?  Not that I wish for anyone's demise or for anyone to suffer loss, I do not  But I have the impression from people I meet, what I have been reading and seeing for awhile that there is rampant discontent.  That many are "going through the motions" without really enjoying their lives or thinking they will actually end up better in a year or two.  They are tired of the day-to-day.  \they want something else, something different, something better.  The adventure has gone from our lives.  There is nothing to conquer -  it's all been done and we are left to watch re-runs of the discoveries of the last few centuries.  We are bored. 
Our sports games, our video games, our mad obsession with darkness and our pursuit of sex as happiness as well as our numerous addictions are all symptoms of our malaise.  The social system we live and work in, is now not really satisfying.  It is not enough and too much at the same time
The virus is timely. 
It will give us pause to reflect  On our lives, our families, our jobs, how we spend our time and our money,; in short, it will allow us to really look at what is really important and not what we have been told to believe is important..
The virus is timely but only if we turn off our media and talk to each other  If we really use the quiet to reflect and revise our values to something more humane.
What can the virus show us? 
For myself, I have clearly seen the illusion of my freedom evaporate before me.  There is no freedom to choose where to go, when events are cancelled or venues closed  No point in traveling to see friends if the spectre of infection hangs over us like a pall 
So what freedoms remain?
"Die Gedanken sind frei.." the old German song goes.  Thoughts are free.  I have the freedom of my thoughts, my feelings, my hopes and dreams.  I have the freedom of expressing those .  I can make choices based on my beliefs, to some extent at least.
Life will not be the same after this.
Life will resume after a time  But it will never be the same We can not un-know the losing of our freedom.  We can not un-see the World Health Organization dictating to supposedly sovereign nations and berating them for their laxness as though they were children  We can not un-see where the contagion began and how quickly it spread nor the measures to combat it - lockdowns, curfews, etc.  We can not un-know the unreasonable response of some of our fellow Canadians to the announcement. 
We know some things we did not know a week ago.  They will change us  But if we are very fortunate, that change will be more positive than negative  If we are very, very fortunate....