Hopefully everyone knows by now that we must wash our hands and stay at home to flatten the curve.
This pandemic is unlike anything I've ever experienced.
It is all that anyone talks about these days, It is all around us, in the news and social media.
I can't watch the news without another heartbreaking story.
I can't go on social media without seeing another meme using humor to cope about social distancing.
What a weird time to be a live.
So many thoughts and feelings revolving around the Coronavirus in the world right now.
So much fear.
So much disbelief and down playing this virus.
So much panic.
So much isolation.
So many opinions and perspectives.
So many people infected, at least 200,000.
So many jobs lost, around 701,000.
So many people on lock down.
So many hands being washed.
So many weddings being postponed and graduation ceremonies being canceled.
So much vulnerability in the elderly, expectant mothers, and those with previous conditions.
So many deaths, at least 8,000.
So much selfishness.
Hoarding toilet paper.
So much selfishness.
Not following the government's recommendations and risking one's own life and the lives of others.
For what?
Boredom?
Denial?
Ignorance?
So many questions.
How do I cope and process this crisis?
How can my heart not feel so heavy for all those who are suffering so much?
How can my heart bare it all?
No one expects it would happen to them.
What if it happens to me or someone I love?
What to do with so many jobs lost and so many families suffering to meet their basic needs?
How to grieve so many deaths?
What to do when we are forced to stay at home?
How can I help?
But it is not all bad.
Air pollution is decreasing.
Despite the selfishness shown, there has also been an enormous amount of kindness and selflessness.
People are coming together to try to help.
So many people donating to charities such as Meals on Wheels, No Kids left Hungry and CoVID-19 response.
So many essential workers risking their lives to help complete and total strangers.
So many people trying to use their time on lock down to grow, learn, and improve.
There is still so much hope, encouragement, and love.
This experience is a paradox of being isolated and feeling small yet being a part of something so large.
We are all in this together and we are showing it more than ever now.
There are Sing-a-long lock downs in Italy.
There is appreciation for health care workers shown globally.
There is appreciation for other essential workers such as those working at groceries stores being expressed as well.
There are police lining the streets of hospitals to flash their lights and applaud local health care workers in Spain.
There are communities coming together to applaud on balconies, out at sea, and signs at hospital windows here in the US.
There is food being delivered for people without or who are more at risk to get their own.
There are fellow neighbors doing chores such as yard work for the elderly or those who are more susceptible to diseases.
There are heart warming videos of visitations to hospitals and retirement homes to love ones through their windows with songs to bring them joy or grandchildren to meet for the first time.
And other random acts of kindness being preformed to those in need in these hard times.
I want to do as much as I can to help.
This means washing my hands, staying at home, and donating to charities.
Even though I wish I could more.
I also want to use my time wisely: to learn new stills, use my creativity, be active and stay positive. Writing is one creative outlet I use to express myself or cope with hard times.But is it selfish for me to use this time for self improvement when others are fighting this virus right now to just stay a live, or are struggling to have enough money for basic need for their families or who have no home to sleep in?
"I am not stuck at home, I'm safe at home."
Maybe when you improve for yourself, you also improve for others too and are able to help them better. As we improve individually we also improve collectively.
Maybe we are always all in this together and events like this just make us realize our oneness, although some are experiencing moreor different types of hardships than others, as well as some countries are experiencing more hardships than others.
"And the people stayed home and read books and listened to music and rested and exercised and made art and played games and learned new ways of being and were still and listened more deeply. Some meditated and played, some danced, Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindlessly and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed and the people joined together, they grieved their losses and created new ways to heal the earth and they had been healed."-Kitty O'mera
I hope to learn new ways to think and grow from this experiences. I hope to never forget all I have to appreciate and be thankful for. I wish this for everyone else too. I am glad that at least we know we are not alone, we are all in this together. This to shall past. But for now, please wash your hands and stay at home.
"When this is over may we never take for granted, a hand shake with a stranger, a full shelf in a store, conversations with our neighbor, a crowded theater on a Friday night out, the taste of communion, a routine check up, the school rush each morning, coffee with a friend, the stadium roaring, each deep breath, a boring Tuesday, life itself. When this ends may we find we become more like the people we wanted to be, we are called to be, and may we stay that way- better for each other because of the worst."-Lauren Kelly Fanucci
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