Stillness for Now

I remember in the 80's when a tv evangelist claimed the world to end on a specific day and time, and it would have been during the early evening news at my Midwestern prairie home. I was playing with Legos pretending not to pay attention to the newscasters as humanity hushed in that moment declared as the end and then it wasn't

Y2K claimed to bring on catastrophe but nothing seemed extreme until 2001. I was in Manhattan on 9/11 and lived and worked there for seven more years through tough times. Blow your f'n mind times. Dangerous, and devastating times. And you know what? The people united.

Once I started riding the train again, you couldn't help but connect with fellow commuters. Everyone paid more attention to each other, eyes met with an understanding, a way of knowing that can't be explained. While those interactions lasted only as long as they float, especially in New York City where you can pass thousands of people a day, they revved you forward. It was support, and we all needed it.

Once I started riding the train again, you couldn't help but connect with fellow commuters. Everyone paid more attention to each other, eyes met with an understanding, a way of knowing that can't be explained. While those interactions lasted only as long as they float, especially in New York City where you can pass thousands of people a day, they revved you forward. It was support, and we all needed it.

A pandemic percolates to the core of a country. All operations rely on one another, so what happens when links of the chain can't function?

So what can you, I, we, everyone do?

If you're like me and you have a home you can hunker down in, a fridge you can fill your belly on, a bed you can sleep on, a family you can count on, a job you can chill on, a bookshelf you can draw from, toilet paper you can wipe your ass on, then life ain't so damn bad, is it?

Because I border on introvert, this shit is easy, gives me time to think and write and clean and exercise and not drive up and down our serpentine neighborhood road a bajillion times a day.

This is the time we can ALL be local heroes, and ALL it requires is staying home if you can. Simple answer.

Some people must venture out every day to save the rest of us, they are the super heroes, let them be, encourage and support them.

Meanwhile, us local heroes can do our part by staying home, by rethinking our days for however long is required of us.

Can we please offer that of ourselves to alleviate the worries and lives of those in the trenches fighting for mankind?

I admit, that sounds way too dramatic to leave my fingertips, but I feel it's true.

If you can't quarantine due to financial, professional, caregiver or whatever reason, please know, I am thinking of you.

And brave volunteers, you are appreciated! I'm donating my share from my kitchen chair.

Huge shout-out to the healthcare workers and their sacrifices, fighting America's battle in this worldwide invisible war, proving to be way more profound than another positive test.

This frame against all times will be nothing to those who don't live it, but for us, in the NOW, it's part of what we are experiencing together during our journey on this plane of existence.

So we need to work together, not argue about whose opinion trumps the CDC. Unless someone else has proven experience in viral pandemic crisis situations, I'm guessing we should follow the guidelines provided to help flatten the curve wanting to skyrocket to pandemonium.

To those fighting on the front lines, thank you from all of my heart.

To the elderly in the nursing homes who can't see family nor each other, quarantined in their rooms all day with no Scrabble or pinochle, I send you my love. And to their caregivers, bless you.

To the immunocompromised individuals and everyone affected, stay strong.

To the medical personnel bracing to make decisions between people's lives due to lack of medical equipment, I commend your stewardship. Thank you for performing what most of us cannot fathom.

To the teachers, administrators, community educators and leaders working endlessly to provide online learning resources for the kiddos and community, thank you.

To the business owners, praying for you.

To the farmers and truck drivers and grocers, thank you.

To the artists who also feed us, with creativity and hope and belief and dreams, may you find the light and share with others.

To the military and government, let's work together nicely and learn from other countries, to slow the ripple.

To the extroverts, I welcome you to try inward friendly conversations for a fix. Key word: friendly

To the introverts, find your alone time, a drive, a walk, a long shower, early bedtime with a journal.

To all of us, let us welcome stillness for now...

Today is the first day of Spring, earliest it's been in 124 years. Vibing re-birth and new beginnings.