I don’t know if it was a premonition or some subconscious fire alert, but when readers would ask why I haven’t published anything the past couple of months, my reply was that nothing seemed important enough. The thought now seems spectacularly prescient.
It’s not that I am above writing complete drivel at times. In fact, depending on my mood, those closest to me will attest I am capable of seemingly endless chatter about absolute nonsense if I think it is funny. Sometimes even if others don’t.
But the tides of our existence have taken a complete about-face within a dramatically short period of time, and suddenly I, like many, have no idea how to adjust. The uncertainty stems from, and extends to not just how to live, but also for how long? Humans are capable of many things but how many are battle-tested for this? And for those of you confined to your spouses and kids (heaven help you all), think about those that are, in what suddenly seems more poignant prison terms, “solitary confinement”. How long have you ever gone without the simplest physical contact? A hug, a kiss, or more innocently, just a simple holding of the hand?
In the event that I should ever fall victim to this or any other fatal end, I would like to assert that I believe we are all capable of making it through this, and that we will.
As for advice, I have no such arrogance left in me. And yet, I am no longer annoyed by the simplistic proposals of privileged postulators about spirituality, physical fitness, diet, or the ordinarily sophomoric-sounding “positive thought”. Because now they all seem preferable alternatives to the inevitable depression that will otherwise pervade our existence.
So go ahead and pray. Watch something funny. Listen to uplifting music, and “dance like no one is watching” because, except for that one neighbour I suspect is not using their telescope to survey the cosmos, it is likely that no one is. They’ve got their own issues to deal with.
Lastly, if you are fortunate enough to be secluded with loved ones you sometimes want to maim, take a moment to do at least some, or all of the aforementioned things together because if you have not gotten the message yet, for what could you possibly be waiting?
Stay good everyone. I’ll be back. WE will all be back. Hopefully soon.
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