I’m sure you’ve all had it.
This year has been a bastard to all of us. Some of us have lost friends, jobs, loved ones, homes, futures. We’ve all had to put our lives on hold, watching the fishbowl of the world outside. Seeing empty TV spectacles only grows the weirdness. Many of us want to go back to the way it was.
There is no way back. Those old jobs are not going to rehire us; some of those workplaces no longer even exist. You may as well try to rewind to 9/10/01 or 11/21/63. Those of us who lived through these days remember how these times changed us. They remind us how we can’t bring anything back: not the innocent dead, not our sense of invincibility.
What we can do is move forward.
It’s trite to say that those we lost are looking down on us lovingly. The problem with this idea is that I don’t know what happens after death. I also don’t know where consciousness comes from before birth. In spite of this, it cheers me up to know that I can say with some surety that Earth, the Sun, Moon, and Universe existed for many years before I came into being. And they will exist for long after I fall.
Looking Backwards
Life seems more delicate now than it used to be.
In January, I was nary concerned about aerosol and airflow, masks and death curves, or the survivability of my friends’ jobs. This has changed.
Some folks are doing okay, others less so. A few people I know have caught the plague and survived. Some people kept the jobs they’ve had for years. I hope that’s the same with all my readers. And I hope that those of us who have lost someone precious can share a sense of solidarity with everybody who has lost something.
I like to think back on history when these great big weird moments occur. One example might be, in the UK and France, during the first World War, everybody knew someone who was KIA. Generations of the young men living at the time were churned up into the mud at Verdun and the Somme. Some of them have relatives living today. One of those relatives is probably you.
Like now, their leaders looked on. Some were dispassionate. Others suffered mental breakdowns from all the pain they had caused. Entire governments and ways of life disappeared. More agonizing toil and gruesome death were to come. Many more had yet to die.
This is not the end of our struggle
Things will not improve immediately. Things rely on us to get better. And if we want things to improve, we need to improve ourselves.
So my advice is to go out there. Take the time you have left and run around while summer still warms your skin. Read a book or learn a new skill. Protest against whoever you disagree with. Connect with your fellow man. The world isn’t going to wait, and to be honest, you’re just getting older as you read this.
I wish everybody the best. If there’s any way I can help through this trying time, please reach out. I hope we can help each other someway.
Lots of love-
JWH