the final stretch? (we bloody hope so)
two years later and we might finally be seeing the light
bwa
digital
written by seb lansdowne
March 2020 was a time of fear. Around the world we could see a new threat – one we were totally unprotected against, an enemy we had never met before that we could see ripping its way through nation after nation. We were locked away from each other, only allowed out once a day for exercise or to do the food shop, we had to work from home and I’m sure we all remember the good weather.
To get us through this time of international crisis many of us reached for the news, for facts and figures to try and comprehend what was actually going on outside of our own 4 walls. So at bwa we did what we do best and designed our response to the problem. We put together our own interactive map that allowed you to explore the data from around the world, using real numbers to tell the story that was unfolding in-front of our eyes. Only a week after working from home was ordered we were fully operational outside of the office – something that we didn’t even know was possible before being forced to.
Once the fear subsided we started to settle in to this new life, the ease of the commute, not having to see anyone you don’t want to (except the ones that live in your house) and never having to get our of your pyjamas appealed to us all… well for a time. But two years down the line, having bounced in and out of national lockdowns, regional lockdowns, the 4 tier system and having the 10pm rule, food with a drink rule, masks in shops and vaccines for holidays, I’m sure I speak for the vast majority of us when I say: we’re all pretty glad that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel with Covid. We are in the final phase. Moving towards living with it as normal, like the common cold, or the flu. No more limitations on our everyday life, no more confusing rules.
“We long to return to normal, but normal led to this. To avert the future pandemics we know are coming, we MUST grapple with all the ways normal failed us. We have to build something better.”
Ed Young, Writer
So at bwa we just wanted to mark this chapter on our blog, for it to be a moment we never forget – for us to look back on and be proud of the good that it brought out in us as people. The community spirit we saw during the pandemic was something unmatched since the war, we can go forward from these few years knowing that we are one global community and we can start to act like it.