When I was in high school, spirit meant cheerleaders and pep rallies and selling chocolate bars for the school band. As I got older, spirit took on a more ethereal meaning: the seat of character, the seat of the soul. As editor of On The Bay, I’ve focused a lot on community spirit in the stories we’ve chosen to tell over the past 16 years. But I know now that I never really understood spirit, or saw it in action, until COVID-19 hit our world, our country, our community like a sledgehammer.
I’ve learned that the true meaning of spirit is in our doctors, nurses, hospital staff, personal support workers and others who put their own health on the line to help others.
True spirit is in our grocery store clerks, chefs, restaurant workers, farmers and delivery people who kept us fed even as many of their livelihoods and businesses were in jeopardy.
It’s in our community members who started ‘caremongering’ groups on social media to keep us connected, positive and involved.
It’s in the individuals, businesses and organizations who raised funds, donated food, offered help, wrote letters to seniors, or simply gave a kind word of support to someone who was scared, sick, lonely, confused or struggling.
The virus may have brought our community to a standstill, but our people, businesses and organizations kept spirit alive.
It’s in the teachers who did their best to keep their students engaged remotely while their own children grew restless from boredom, the musicians who performed free online concerts, and the creatives who came up with activities to occupy our hands and minds.
It’s in the firefighters, ambulance drivers, neighbours, friends and strangers who jumped in their vehicles to give a child an unforgettable ‘drive-by’ birthday party.
It’s in the photographers who took free portraits at a distance of families on their front steps. And the artists who painted a colourful mural of hope and togetherness on the wall of a construction site.
It’s in the Collingwood mother who played the bagpipes on her front lawn every evening at 7:30, accompanied by her young children on drums (one of whom is on our cover), to honour the frontline workers putting themselves at risk so we could stay safely at home. Imagine what those children have learned about the power of music, the power of family, the power of community. Now imagine how they might take those lessons forward into the future.
We’ve all learned something through the trials of the past four months. The virus may have brought our community to a standstill, but our people, businesses and organizations kept spirit alive. In this smaller but heartfelt issue of On The Bay, we wanted to commemorate this unprecedented time in our lives, so we can all reflect on what’s most important: family, health, nature, community … and the strength and resilience of the human spirit. ❧
