A message to the future
A couple of days ago, I had this feeling – while I was walking the aisles of the supermarket looking onto people with different kind of face masks on – that things might be changing forever. The world as we know it will change forever. A sudden wave of nostalgia covered me.
I remember the times when my nanny told her memories of the world that felt so alien to me. My nanny told me about the Ottoman empire, how my grandad worked as a pharmacist at the palace. Whoever worked at the palace was looked after the palace, they did not need money. So, when the Ottoman empire collapsed, they did not have much money, but they had lands that were gifted to them by the Sultan. All these lands were in very precious places around Istanbul or even Egypt which was also part of the empire. My grandad had no sense of money and sold &squandered away the money to relatives and died in a completely different world than his palace days.
I was thinking about this, and how my world that I know till now, will be completely different than the world my son will experience. I wondered If I could adapt. Or will the nostalgia linger on?
My favourite memories are of celebrations, & parties with a big group of friends…Dancing is a big joy for me, a big group of friends or fellow dance lovers taking on the rhythm of the dance. I remember being in a big boat in Chicago, the boat had a big dance floor and suddenly all the dance lovers showed up on the dance floor to do a dance sequence that everyone knew, what a joy to be able to share a dance with a big crowd. Or concerts where a huge crowd is gathered and influenced by the emotional journey that the artist takes us on. My childhood days were about gathering up with friends and running altogether after some mischief or another. University was all about communal activity, campus and Its inhabitants breathed and lived together, that made university fun. I used to go to campus even If I did not have any lesson that day because It had such a good vibe and there were always friends to hang out with. My first job was for a bank who was famous for its management trainee programme so it meant that the office was full of like-minded young people, we would be chatting during the breaks, and my colleagues were my friends, after office hours there was always some event that we went together. Such a brilliant place to work for, to this day I am working with this bank as a client, out of a commitment to the wonderful days I had there. Travelling is another magical experience for me so I always thought by the time I am in my 70`s I would have seen all the world. I did love travelling so much I worked as a steward in my university days, I would be in a different country each day. And when I earned my own money I went around Europe, and then travelled even farther away to far East and USA.
So, while I was walking the aisle in the supermarket I am thinking about these memories, and I had the urge to write down these, a sudden fear that I will not be able to recreate similar memories engulfed me. I felt the need to make it permanent by writing. As if Yes, we had these wonderful times where we were not afraid to mix in with the crowds. I read that this virus will not be the last and we might have to learn living with all sorts of different viruses (*). With that in mind, I wondered what will be my son`s memories? What kind of memories he would be looking back onto when he`s in his 40`s like I am now.
Will, we dare to travel far and wide, or will the countries want us to come to their country, or will we be asked to get a vaccine or some sort of test. Will travelling become laden with chores and instead, will we be content to do a virtual journey? What about education, what kind of education experience he will be having? Mostly online with minimum in-class experience? Through my master’s degree I experienced online education, there is no problem of acquiring the information, but the experience is bare. Will my son’s university days will be lone experience, where you just use technology to connect with like-minded people? My son said he is never going into an office from 8.00 till 17.00, even the idea suffocated him, so at least in this respect, his dreams are coming true. Maybe my generation will be the last who worked 8 hours each day from Monday to Friday. When I joined the workforce in the 1990`s we had big computers and wrote mails in strange black screens. Even though there were computers and mails, there was still a lot of paperwork & filing. But as years went on, as we got meshed up with technology, no need for papers and files, and no need to be in the office, again out of habit and to keep the human connection going we still went to the office to this day, but since the virus no more. I can foresee that my son will never sit at a desk in the headquarter of a firm. He will be earning an income on his terms. For sure he will be doing something creative, thank god he is creative because there will be not much room for people who cannot create. Anything that does not need to be created will be handled in an automated way. What about live entertainment? I do wonder how you can experience being part of a group – which is a big buzz for us humans – virtually. I assume the quality and the feel of virtual connections will change. 5-d virtual experiences will be the norm maybe??
Today`s blog was to write an account of how life was till now, and how I felt that maybe we are making a big leap in time where the way we live will radically change for us. The next generation will not remember the world as we had experienced it. The dawning of a new reality.
Stay safe and sane x
(*) http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170504-there-are-diseases-hidden-in-ice-and-they-are-waking-up
