Covid-19 has directly affected not only the flow of our lives, but also our way of life, our dreams and our expectations for the future. The course of our dreams has changed, our social space has shrunk, and we found ourselves in the lap of unexpected problems. Workplaces, commercial institutions went bankrupt, people could not even meet their basic needs. At this point, it is up to the woman to bear the burden of the family. The secret heroes of the society, women, worked with the sensitivity of an expert to support the household with limited means and contributed to the happiness of the family in difficult times.
Generation Z does not understand nothing, does not like to postpone their dreams, does not like humility and does not contact the earth, they are always in the sky, above the clouds. Generation Z is focused on consumption and waste, focusing on what they don't have, not what they don't have. People born and raised in the shadow of traditional culture are very sensitive about waste and take care not to waste anything. They know the arduous journey of the bread they consume from the field to the factory, from the factory to the bakeries and from there to the table, and they carefully collect the crumbs on the ground and throw them to the birds.
Waste is an insidious disease, if you are infected once, you will continue to travel without realizing it. In this sense, bread is a decisive value. A person who wastes bread turns it into a way of life by wasting water, fruit, time, air and love.
For those who grew up in the shadow of traditional culture, soil was an educational tool, a living organism, and a value. Thanks to the closeness they established with the land, people learned to stand against waste and made gratitude and patience a part of their lives. In their world, it was the bread that entered the crops of the earth, the air they breathed, and the love in their world. The land was the mother of bread, water and all products consumed, and it enjoyed the respect it deserved. And… the day people devalued the land, they overthrew themselves too…
Our grandmothers used to meticulously decompose the products they took from the soil and make them useful. Their tables were quite plain and they ate little, slept little, and talked little. Some of the fruits and vegetables collected from the field were dried, some were prepared as canned, and some were reserved for jam and molasses. The remaining waste was left in the soil to turn into fertilizer. At that time, ready-made foods were not respected, our mothers used to prepare and serve the oil, breakfast cheese and olives they used in meals, and the cookies they used to snack with tea with their own hands.
During the pandemic period, middle-aged and older women tried to raise the morale of the family by bringing home what they learned from the soil. They focused on sharing, tried to avoid waste, and believed that being content with less would bring happiness. While the younger generation living an isolated life at home talked about stress and boredom, mothers who produced happiness with limited means became the invisible heroes of our homes.
The virus, which affected the whole world, did not only affect our social relations, but also directly affected our consumption habits and lifestyle. And people had three important gains in the process:
1-People who spent most of their time at home during the pandemic became aware of their talents and had the opportunity to develop them.
2-Family members who spend time together all day focused on activities they can do together.
3-People who turned the days spent at home into opportunities became rich spiritually by focusing on contemplation and prayer. And our mothers undertook an important task by bringing happiness to our homes in these difficult days.