Life lessons in a lockdown: How Hamiltonians are growing during COVID-19

Hamilton is slowly re-emerging from various stages of lockdown during COVID-19, but the pandemic has ushered in a new normal as the virus has sickened hundreds in the city. Now, locals are reflecting on what they've learned during the age of infection.

Here are a few different perspectives from community members who spoke with CBC News.

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Joe Cappadocia

Joe Cappadocia is a teacher at Cathedral High School in Hamilton.

"The first lesson is how quickly things can change. If you would've asked me a week before the March Break whether we would be self-isolating at home, I probably would've said no and now all of a sudden it's been two months ... it's beginning to feel almost normal which worries me because I don't want this to be a normal, I want this to be a very unique situation that I don't go through again in my life.

The other takeaway is how people want to work and do stuff they think is significant and important. That people want to be engaged with the work they're doing. Everyone is trying to do their best to continue with their jobs and do something they find meaningful. Part of it is staying in control of the situation. By keeping busy, you feel like it's not necessarily out of our hands."

Jeremy Freiburger

Jeremy Freiburger is the cultural strategist at CoBALT Connects.

"The things we've learned are things we've maybe tried to ignore before. I think the incredible value of anyone that is deemed an essential service right now — from the person that stocks the shelves at the grocery store or the administrative assistant at the hospital, people that run gas stations — all those jobs that less than a year ago we were trying to get a $15 an hour living wage for, we're realizing these are the people that keep our daily lives functional and their jobs are maybe far more important than we thought they were, so we're going to have to come to grips with this and figure out how we're going to truly address that long term, not just a 'Thank you for helping us get through this,' and moving on.

And thank heavens we live in Canada. Appreciating our health-care system more than ever and what it means to not have to guess about whether we should be getting care right now is super important and that's always been something that's been truly Canadian and one of the big differentiators between us and our friends to the south but I think in these situations it's all that more obvious and relevant."

Hilary Kennedy

Hilary Kennedy is a personal support worker who helped out at Heritage Green Nursing Home.

"We shouldn't take for granted what we used to have. I would do anything to see my grandparents right now but I can't ... I hope we're kind to each other. It's going to be crazy when this is all over, trying to get our life back in order. For females, we're also going to be pushing each other to get our hair done and whatever but it's all about being kind. If we're not kind, then nothing is going to be accomplished and everyone is going to be miserable."

Mouna Bile

Mouna Bile is the bilingual black justice coordinator at Hamilton Community Legal Clinic.

"As a mother, as a resident of this city, sometimes just doing the smallest thing can be of huge help to your neighbour. Sometimes just reaching out and asking folks how they're coping, especially with our elder communities. For me that has taught me a lot of lessons but brought me closer to my community and neighbours. Finding out what we all need, how we can help each other ... help is essential at home. If you can lend assistance in any fashion, it comes back to you tenfold. It makes this difficult situation we're all facing that much more bearable. And if you do need help, I know it isn't always easy, but reach out."

Sandee Ewasiuk

Sandee Ewasiuk is a local artist who teaches at the Art Gallery of Burlington and the Dundas Valley School of Art.

"You see people and they're going for walks and baking and doing domestic things that maybe we've sort of forgotten about or put on the back burner. Also, just learning to be quiet and with yourself and that's a huge thing, I think. It's a hard thing to do because we're always so busy. Even for me, who is used to doing that, it's like, 'Oh, well I can't really go anywhere today, so what am I going to do?' As tragic as this is, there certainly are benefits."

Anne Bokma

Anne Bokma is a local, award-winning writer and the author of My Year of Living Spiritually: From Woo-Woo to Wonderful—One Woman's Secular Quest for a More Soulful Life.

"In the news we're getting daily death tolls ... we're really aware of death and our own mortality and I think that really makes us reconsider how we may be living our lives and think about positive changes we can make to lead more meaningful lives.

And I think one of the things that has been reinforced is our desperate need to belong to a tribe. One of our most elemental motivations in human beings is to belong and COVID is teaching us how much we want to belong, how much we want to be with other people and how much we're missing that. The gathering, the personal touch, is all gone for many of us. And still we're finding ways to connected. We're determined to connect. People are having meaningful conversations. In some ways we're connected more meaningfully than we have in the past. People are kinder."