Over the past week, Berlin bars and cafés reopened. It was just for a few hours, that is until 10 p.m., but that was enough to open the floodgates for throngs of people, including those who have abided by the lockdown over the past several months.
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Last Wednesday, I met a friend over wine. We sat outside under the sun and were thrilled that normal life has returned, in some sort.
She told me that her social circle has been cut in half, if not more. She works as a vice president for business development at a large American corporation in Berlin, and as part of her job she is responsible for the European market.
She is a very bright woman, educated, and most importantly – successful. She won't let anyone dictate to her anything. Perhaps she can be described as an independent thinker. Perhaps this is the most relevant thing here.
She has never spoken with disrespect or mockery about the measures taken to fight coronavirus. She has only mentioned the major impact they have had on all of us – and will continue to have on all of us over the next 18 months.
Sometimes she reminds me of her mother, who worked as a nurse in a hospital for 40 years and told her that during the annual flu citizens, people would fall like flies.
My friend keeps saying that she is so happy we have Angela Merkel as our chancellor, because she is reasoned, wise and a human-loving person, but it is indeed very possible that over the next two years, we will all look back on what is happening now and assess things differently. I agreed with this analysis during our meeting.
But the very real problem is that there are only two camps, each slamming the other one that they don't understand the world.
Each one claims to have the truth. What neither camp understands is that they are actually very much alike, in their rejection of the gray areas, and in their extremist positions and accusatory rhetoric against the other camp.
We are still clueless about this virus; its economic and health impact is still unclear. Nothing.
Anyone who claims anything else should become familiar with one word: doubt. And then they should relax and lean back. Not knowing anything is worse than the virus. I understand that.
Perhaps it would actually help to look at the positive developments? There are so many great things that have emerged from this crisis: working from home; yoga from home; and book-reading events from home.
Several days ago I had this idea of organizing a reading event from home. I shared my idea with my 16,000 followers on Instagram and within 36 hours I sold 300 tickets to the events, 5 euros each.
Only four months ago, this would have been an impossible feat. But now, thanks to coronavirus, and the new normal, it is here. Every crisis brings its innovation and inventions. Crises are the engines of progress, of growth.
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Yes, of course, I have lost this or that friend during the past several months. But this way it is easier to understand whom I can trust in the future to fight with us, in hell and high water, in good times and when the going gets tough.
Those who have stayed are those who have set free from the need to demand a hold on the universal and absolute truth.
