The Silver Linings of COVID

6 Jun 2022 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:28

A short YouTube monologue (by Clegg) reflecting on emotional complexity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The speaker describes learning that people can hold multiple, simultaneous emotions—e.g., enjoying creative aspects of lockdown while feeling guilt about others’ suffering—and that it’s acceptable to feel positive emotions alongside sadness or grief.

I learned a very valuable lesson that you can actually have multiple feelings at the same time. For some people where they were enjoying the chaos of COVID because it's a moment of extreme creativity. There was also an inherent sense of guilt that I was having fun when there was death and destruction and loss of and friends who were losing jobs. And what I learned is I can be sad and happy at the same time, and I can be excited and depressed at the same time. We can have multiple simultaneous emotions, and we don't have to feel guilty for having a good one.