Acquiescence

 To try and say anything about the last couple of weeks with the news that changes every few minutes, is next to impossible.  The fear of the coronavirus and much of the misinformation increases at a dizzying pace.  Of course none of this has been helped by HWSNBN and his inability to talk in coherent sentences, his blaming of this virus on anything from Obama to the Democrats to the Chinese to the media.  OK - I won't waste anymore on that or on him.

The thing I can write about is my own process.  I have gone from denial, anger, shock, resistance, to reluctant acceptance, to acquiescence.

I had planned to leave for Israel on April 10th.  At first I was definitely going, then I thought I would go and would be in quarantine for 2 weeks, then I decided to wait until the last minute to decide. I could extend the trip so that I would still have time after being quarantined.  Then on Thursday, after a sleepless night,  I reluctantly decided that a trip at this time is stupid.  The other thing that kept me awake on Thursday night was that I was to attend a memorial service and reception for a friend's mother. I really wanted to honor her mother, and support my friend, but I decided against attending.  That decision was come by with great difficulty and a heavy heart.

These decisions were made after speaking to a rational, non alarmist, research scientist.  It suddenly dawned upon me that other than washing hands and social distancing, we must try and contain the virus. It is the socially responsible course of action.

Ever since this began, I have considered that we have a few lessons to learn from this global crisis. The first  is that we are all interconnected - and by that I mean everything and everyone on this planet.  Sealing borders to viruses will not work.  We only have to look at the devastation we have wrought on our environment to understand that we are interconnected. I do think some people understand this.

The other lesson is that we have absolutely no control over anything, not our health, not our lives, not our finances.  All of our 'safety' edifices and beliefs  are but a bubble, an illusion.  The one thing we can do is wash our hands, thoroughly, and respect our fellow beings and treat them with love, caring and compassion.

Here I am, at home, but still totally connected. And so very happy that it has rained again, at last, and once again the air is fresh and clean.

Be safe everyone.  Love to you all