4/24 Covid-19 Update: "Something good will come out of all things yet"
I know I've been a little quiet this week, but I promise it's not for lack of trying. I've sat down pretty much every night and tried to write this, and just haven't been able to come up with words that feel right. I write pages and pages about how demoralizing this most recent news cycle has been for me: How personally offended I feel that people I know are capable of believing that Bill Gates created coronavirus and is spreading it for nefarious purposes (this week far right extremists hacked the Gates Foundation, the WHO, and the NIH and released passwords online so that they could better coordinate their harassment campaigns and conspiracy theories). How infuriating it is that the anti-science/anti-vaccines voices in our country who prey on people's fear are just getting louder and more powerful in the midst of a global pandemic, when science and vaccines are going to be our only hopes for finding a way out of this. How much I want to scream when our president, already complicit in the deaths of so many people due to his pathological narcissism and insecurity, decides to casually suggest from the WH podium that people inject bleach into their veins (vaccines are scary, but sure! bleach sounds great!). How hard it is to hold onto any semblance of faith in our country when people are out protesting with signs that say "Sacrifice the weak! Reopen!". It's been too much for me.
The last time I felt this level of hopelessness was right after Trump got elected. And the only way I survived was by unplugging. I basically stopped engaging with the daily news cycle for the last three years (with some major relapses around the Kavanaugh hearings and the democratic primaries) -- it was the only thing I could do to save my (already limited) sanity. But I don't have that luxury right now -- my job requires me to not just engage with the daily news cycle, but to exist inside of it.
So I'm just trying to remind myself what I learned by disconnecting from the noise before: that our media is always going to give a megaphone to the most outrageous spectacles they can find, and that those voices don't reflect what I personally experience to be true: that most people I know are good, and kind, and trying very hard to do the right thing.That social media platforms generally exist to make people feel bad about themselves and therefore buy more. That expertise exists for a reason and not all opinions are created equal (does it really matter that the kid I went to high school with who was on a reality TV show for his addiction to eating hair out of drains thinks that coronavirus is a hoax? Pretty sure that's a hard no).
I read somewhere this week (I can't remember where) that you can't heal what you don't grieve, and I don't think I fully grieved what happened on November 8, 2016. I didn't know how to. And so what's happening now - the divisiveness and anger and fear and delusion - are reactivating some old wounds. But I've learned over the last few years that I always have a choice in what I give my attention to, and when the pain gets to be too much, there's usually an invitation in there somewhere to try to experience that pain differently. To invite other people in to help, to water seeds that lead to healing and not fear, and to find strength in broken places. I might have to temporarily exist in this godforsaken news cycle, but it's up to me how much power I give it.
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Tl;dr
Coronavirus: Learning how to dance: This article was widely shared within the foundation this week as pointing to the best roadmap for how we start to inch our way back toward "normal" (10 min read -highly recommend the whole thing) - "Billions of people around the world are under the Hammer: Their governments have implemented heavy social distancing measures to quench the spread of the virus. Most did the right thing: The Hammer was the right decision. It bought us time to reduce the epidemic and to figure out what to do during the next phase, the Dance, in which we relax the harsh social distancing measures in a careful way to avoid a second outbreak. But the Hammer is hard. Millions have lost their jobs, their income, their savings, their businesses, their freedom. The world needs answers: When is this over? When do we relax these measures and go back to the new normal? What will it take? What will life be like? When do we get to dance?
The Hammer has bought us time. Millions have been saved. Now we know what we need to do to dance. Many countries have shown us the path.. We can learn from their successes and from their failures. In fact, we can dance for pretty cheap. We likely won’t need to keep businesses and schools closed. But we need to know exactly what these measures are, because we need to prepare for them now. Governments have a major role to play. Most haven’t done what they need to do yet. They are antsy to get back to normal, so they’re rushing without being ready. Many will have a second outbreak. If we do it right, in a few weeks we can get back to a new normal. Our lives will change for a year or so, but these changes will be reasonable. They will allow us to avoid both massive deaths and economic collapse.
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Recommended reading:
Solving the mysteries of coronavirus with genetic fingerprints: One of the most captivating/fascinating covid articles I've read in a long time. It traces the virus back to Seattle in early January and looks at how it spread from there (25% of cases in the US can be tracked back to the first infected person here, if that's any indication of how important contact tracing/quarantine measures are).
The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead: In truth, it is not clear to anyone where this crisis is leading us. More than 20 experts in public health, medicine, epidemiology and history shared their thoughts on the future during in-depth interviews. When can we emerge from our homes? How long, realistically, before we have a treatment or vaccine? How will we keep the virus at bay?
Innovation vs the Coronavirus: Bill Gates writes about the first "modern pandemic" and the scientific advances we need to stop it
How to thrive in isolation, according to one of WA's last fire lookouts: For ‘Lightning’ Bill Austin, life in a Methow Valley lookout tower isn’t too different from life under social distancing.
The social media shame machine is in overdrive right now: Because we know so little — and have so little faith in our leaders — we are scrambling for some sense of order. That often means leveling judgment on others.
I work in a grocery store. Don't call me a hero: I’m grateful to be acknowledged for the risky work we’re doing. Being in an environment where morale is up despite global uncertainty is encouraging. But I have a problem with all this hero talk. It’s a pernicious label perpetuated by those who wish to gain something—money, goods, a clean conscience—from my jeopardization.
It's Time to Delete Your Delivery Apps: Tl;dr: order directly from restaurants instead.
Things that made me feel better/less alone:
Eddie Vedder's performance of "River Cross" during the Together at Home concert last weekend
Covid-19 Quote of the Day:
“On soft Spring nights I'll stand in the yard under the stars - Something good will come out of all things yet - And it will be golden and eternal just like that - There's no need to say another word.” - Jack Kerouac
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