I’ve been thinking a lot about the Coronavirus (Covid-19, SARS-COV2, Captain Trips whatever you want to call it). I’ve been thinking a lot about how we used to be; how society functioned and how it treated its people; how we are going (hopefully) to learn from this and create better societies, and a better world. And now I’ve been thinking a lot about the protestors all across the country who want to open the world; who want to take their bodies and their lives in their hands and re-open society earlier than we are prepared to do. My thoughts are still disorganized, like many of yours I’m sure, but I wanted to say to the protestors and to the people who haven’t left their home in two months:
I’m scared too.
I understand wanting to live your life. As a busy person (normally I work two jobs and don’t have much time for anything else) I understand missing that chaos. I understand wanting to go to work. I understand wanting to follow your American Dream’s. I understand wanting the right to your own life, liberties, and pursuit of happiness. I truly believe in a persons right to their own body, to their own choices. I believe if a person wants to smoke and drink themselves to death that’s their human right. I understand wanting to go get your morning coffee, or go to your salon and get a touch up, or go to the beach and do literally nothing but enjoy the sun and the sky in camaraderie with your fellow man. I. Understand.
And I’m scared too.
Sometimes I think we’ll never “go outside” again. We’ll never know what it’s like to wake up, annoyed and bummed that it’s “Monday” and we have to go to work, back to the daily grind. Sometimes I worry we’ll never sit down on Friday night at a bar or club with our friends and enjoy a drink where we complain about our lives, or celebrate on how blessed we are. Sometimes I worry our kids will all become agoraphobic germaphobes.
I’m scared too.
I understand wanting to throw yourself into “normal” and “wish for the best”. I understand seeing the world wide percentages and going “it’s not as bad as they say”. I understand thinking that the media does a great job of using scare tactics to fear monger. I understand that politicians will use this time to get more favor. I understand being stuck in your ways and your “I’ve lived through x, y, and z” mentality. I understand going to bed at night thinking this is madness.
And I’m scared too.
I worry about the people who don’t have health insurance, who are sick and suffering silently because they cannot get tested or cannot go to the doctor without incurring insane medical debt. I worry about the people trapped in their home with an abusive person, or their own traitorous brain. I worry about the kids who only got to eat at school and now that meal is taken away. I worry about the essential workers, going to work without proper supplies and risking infection every day. I worry about the people who have recovered but might get sick with one of the new side-effects/complications.
I’m scared too.
No matter how scared we are that the economy will collapse, that we’ll lose our jobs (permanently), that our government is too broken to find a solution, that we’ll never see “normal” again… no matter how free you want to be, it is important that we remember we are not doing this for ourselves. We are doing this to protect our society. We are protecting not just the weak and vulnerable any more; with each day that passes we are learning that we are protecting our parents, our colleagues, our friends, our youth. We have got to understand that no matter how scared we are we must always put human lives above our own hubris. The day we fail to put human lives first, is the day we fail as a species; and maybe that day already happened and I am too hopeful or naive to see it. We have got to band together, stay safe, and figure this out together. When we dissent it becomes chaos and we will not survive as a society if we cannot compromise and work together.
And I’m scared too.
It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to not know what is going to happen, to struggle with the panic of this uncertainty. To feel powerless and helpless. But we will figure this out, and we will get through this together. Because we are the human race. We are dumb, pigheaded, and thoughtless. We have selfish tendencies and big egos. But we are also good, and smart, and determined. Humans will always do their best to get in their own way; but we always overcome, because that’s who we are. So please, take a minute to think. Think about someone besides yourself; understand why we are doing this, why the whole world stopped.
We will open society again, it’s inevitable. We will enjoy the sun and the beach. We will hang out with our friends and our family and we will experience joy and we will no longer be afraid.
“Love didn’t grow very well in a place where there was only fear, just as plants didn’t grow very well in a place where it was always dark.”
― The Stand
Jah Will Provide 