So I’ve been trying to keep things mostly lite with all this impending doom. Work has been nothing but hectic because all of our March and April shows have cancelled. (I work at a music agency by day.) And now May is starting to cancel. Although I’ve lost my commissions and spring bonus, I am still very fortunate because I will remain on salary and working as all this unravels.
I have food a plenty including dried legumes and canned goods. My freezer is stocked with vegetation and meat. And yes, I have Toilet paper and medicine.
It may look like I’m freaking out and afraid, but I’m not. I’m not feeding into the frenzy of negative energy, and neither should you.
We will all get through this just like our great grandparents did 100 years ago with the Spanish flu. We have better healthcare now and a better response system, and a better understanding of diseases.
By the end of this we will most likely find out that many more people have COVID19 than we think. Unfortunately since they aren’t testing everyone here in the US unless there are symptoms then the case numbers will not reflect the actual numbers of the infected.
Many infected people will have little to no symptoms. Some will display signs similar to an acute cold and not be tested. But we don’t hear that often. We aren’t told enough that the majority of people will be fine and that this is all to protect the elderly and immune suppressed population.
No, I am not panicking or worried about the Coronavirus. But I am worried about the collective reaction to it. I am worried about everyone‘s growing fear because fear causes us to be callous and make poor choices. Fear causes us to be selfish. Fear is dangerous.
Use common sense. Wash your hands. You don’t need 5 pallets of toilet paper. If you’re older or have immune issues then you probably shouldn’t go to big public events or hang around children. If you are young and healthy then you probably should mostly distance yourself from the elderly while still offering to drop groceries at their doorsteps as needed. Above all, do not panic.
I tend to be cautious even in a normal flu season, not because I’m afraid that I’m going die but because I don’t want to disrupt my life and feel like crap. I don’t want to have to be away from those I love. I don’t want to be laid up on my couch binge watching Netflix when I could be out taking a walk or enjoying the beach. I don’t want to miss work. Besides distancing myself from the elderly this isn’t much different than how I would normally react to flu season. Ok so I do confess to wiping my door knobs and phone more often with sanitizer, but this can‘t and won’t last forever.
We will survive this and be a normal society again. Go about your business as normal as possible. Make breakfast. Do all the things around your house that have been on your mental list for the last 5 years. Learn to play guitar. Read those books that have been sitting on your shelf collecting dust. Play a card game with your family. FaceTime. Write a novel. Laugh. Smile. Cry. Do laundry. Life must go on and so it shall.