COVID19 – Silver Linings

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a few weeks now, but I wasn’t sure if writing about “Silver Linings” was the best thing to do! But, here we are, and I’m going to do it anyhow. I could find plenty to write about in regards to the negative, because there is a lot. But I am tired… tired of the bad news and negative. I need to write about some of the positive for myself, as well as anyone else. Hopefully this can help all of us keep some perspective!

As with anything that affects a lot of people, there are is impact. COVID19, regardless of your opinion on it, has affected millions. Well, maybe billions. When this type of “thing” happens, there are ripple affects in almost every area of lifestyle; technology, agriculture, pop culture, education, etc. Here are a few that I have found, I know there are many more!

1. Advancement in Tech

This one is probably the one that most people noticed! Zoom, MSFT TEAMS, Google Meet, etc. They have made incredible jumps to accommodate the massive increase in load. Companies, schools, grandparents.. they have all started making use of “Virtual Meetups”. We can see each other, interact, and have ‘some’ resemblance of normalcy. And to add to that, we can put up ‘fake’ backgrounds just to have a little fun. Here is one that I use…

If you don’t know where that is, you need your geek card revoked 😉

2. Time

Now, some people might not look at this as a good thing, and I can understand. But COVID has given us time, and a lot of it. Granted, the ‘reasons’ may not always be the best, but this is an article about silver linings… so I am trying to find the positive in the negative.

In this case, some of us have time because of furlough, working from home, not being able to go places, etc. We have seen massive upticks in the home improvement businesses, hobby stores, etc. It’s like we have been given a chance to focus on some of our ‘core’ wants. I know for me, this has meant woodworking, gardening and spending time with my kids. It’s sad that it took a pandemic to give us that freedom. I wonder if there will be any lasting changes to our lives after things get back to ‘normal’?

Truthfully, there are many other silver linings. Getting out for walks and getting in some exercise, focusing on myself, the incredible jump in service delivery options from companies, new jobs being created in sectors we barely new existed, remote work becoming ‘acceptable’, etc.

Have any examples? If so, post them in the comments!

Geek Jason