Where The Wind Blows
As mentioned in the previous entry, I am newly unemployed. I would like to take this time to thank the Coronavirus for reaching us at such an opportune moment.
With a kid on the way and no job to pay, Michael is feeling A-OK.
In all seriousness, it has only been a week since I lost my jobs. From what I’m reading and seeing abroad in China, I anticipate being out of work for at least two more months; right around the time baby will be born. Luckily, I have loads of house projects that I can complete! Last week I painted two bedrooms, built an Ikea dresser (it deserves its own clause because it took me 7 freaking hours to put together), moved our bedroom downstairs next to the baby’s room, and moved my office upstairs. And the next few weeks will be filled with yard and garden work! I’ll be ripping out all of the grass in our front yard, building another garden box and building a trellis for our grape vines along the side of the house. I have plenty to do...
With plenty of projects on the docket, it’s still hard not to feel sorry for yourself during a time like this. My side business, Memento Stories, has been put on hold. Our financial goals have been halted. Our baby showers have been cancelled. And to top it off, our hospital room will likely consist of just Sophie, myself, and the hospital staff. No visitors allowed…It’s hard to process how quickly things have changed.
Even though we are all impacted by this in some way, I think we all find ourselves thinking about the needs of our immediate tribes more than the needs of abstract strangers. And frankly, I think that’s okay. It’s an evolutionary trait that got us to where we are today. As long as we give some thought to the fellow humans outside of our tribes, we will get through this. I’m not too sad about our situation though. I’m obviously a little bummed and somewhat frustrated, but I’m trying to make the most out of it. Sophie still has her job so we still have more than half of our income coming in. Financially, we will weather this storm with a few cutbacks and a lil’ help from our friend Uncle Sam.
What concerns me most about this pandemic is the economic repercussions it will have. I am legitimately afraid of what it’s going to do to the global economy. Personally, I’m wondering what the food and beverage industry will look like in the coming years. Even after a vaccine is created, will COVID-19 become part of the flu season? If so, will two-week long quarantines become a normal part of life during highly infectious seasons? Outside of this industry, how will the dynamics of social interactions change? Will social distancing become the new norm during flu/corona season? And in the immediate future, how many people will lose their jobs and how many businesses will have to close down shop? We are still in the beginning stages of this pandemic and I fear we have not seen the worst of its spread. I anticipate that once the number of new cases levels out or dips down in America, quarantine measures will be relaxed, which will lead to another spike of new cases a month later, followed by more disastrous economic repercussions...I really hope I’m wrong. I hope that the solid majority of people are taking this “Stay Home” campaign to heart and that we will see a drastic decrease in cases in the next few weeks.
But even when we do see a decrease in cases, what’s next? With no vaccine and limited testing available, how can we return to business as usual? It seems unnecessarily risky to have people going back to work without a vaccine or testing available for everyone. I have a feeling a large number of people will be working from home until a vaccine is readily available in a year. For those who can’t work from home, for those who have jobs that require face to face interactions... I think social gatherings will remain taboo for the next little bit. I think eating out at restaurants and going to bars will become a little more exclusive and isolated. I think facemasks will finally become trendy in the US and social interactions closer than 6 feet will be reserved for those you trust most.
One of the few reasons I am glad for a pandemic is that it’s affecting everyone; not just a handful of countries. It will be much easier to empathize and repair any financial shortcomings globally since we all know what eachother went through. Never did I think I’d see the day when one topic was so ubiquitously discussed around the world. People look back on the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and reminisce about how friendly everyone was with each other. I’d like to hope that once we curtail this virus, the entire world will be a little more empathetic. Of course, you will always have those world leaders who will use this crisis as an opportunity to gain more power (looking at you Russia…), but for the rest of us, I hope it brings us closer together in a unifying way.
I know the future is feeling somewhat bleak and very uncertain, so I wanted to share a poem with you. We will make it through this. Life will be different, but we will adapt and learn from our mistakes. This virus has exposed our vulnerabilities in a way that hasn’t been done in 100 years. Yet we are still here. Don’t lose hope. Make the most of your time at home. Remember what is most important in life. And above all, smile :)
Michael
Lockdown
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13th 2020
[The Order of Friars Minor, also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order, has a postnominal abbreviation OFM)
