The world is paused. Human contact is to be avoided at all costs. It’s war, a battle, a pandemic, a real threat to every human life. We are all at risk, at the same time, across all time zones, countries, cities. All walks of life, from office workers and medical personnel, to celebrities and movie stars.
We have been humbled. Stopped in our tracks. Literally. Figuratively. We are on hold. We are bonding, through fear, through the very real threat to our own health and safety, and that of our loved ones. Humanity is showing its best, and its very worst, daily. This war is a real one. And we are called to action. That is, we are called to inaction.
As the news repeats the dire message, day after day, and social media is oozing with everything from panic to denial, my heart, my mind, have grown dim. Other nations continue to face this sort of threat, or similar threats, but they are far from us, allowing us a semblance of surreal reality. We never really digest their suffering, do we? We are firmly planted in our comforts and safety. First World problems, am I right? (Insert eyeroll.)
But here we are. United against a virus that in and of itself is unknown, unfamiliar, uncategorized. Unbelievable. The medical community is on the front lines of this battle, and is racing against time to learn to find a way to destroy it. Or, at the very least, control it.
The media is ravenous and unrelenting. Spewing venomous questions and controversies, spreading fear, feeding fear, whether willingly or incidentally. The leaders of the nations are (for once) speechless and stunned, as they try to calm the masses. Everyone is on edge, living in a world that is paused. Stopped. Threatened. Closed. Shut down.
Everyone thinks they are an expert. Humanity is poised at their keyboards, “armchair warriors,” they call them… tapping away furiously with what they think is truth, a lie, what is best, what is wrong. Everyone has an opinion based upon an internal fear, an unresolved panic they can’t put to rest.
No one is safe from anything anymore. This makes the threat palpable. Tangible. We have never experienced this in our lifetimes. So it goes. We type away, trying to type away the fear, the unknown, the uncertainty.
A mental bubble
Those of us who endure various forms of mental illness (especially anxiety and depression) live similar battles, within the confines of the panic and disarray of our broken minds, on a daily basis. I find myself somewhat numb.
Personally, as an anxiety and OCD sufferer myself, with numerous aspects of depression over the years, I am currently on autopilot. I focus, in a robotic sort of fashion, on cleaning and sanitizing (with fury!) anything that the outside world may have come into contact with. I mentally keep a bubble around my own family of five, one of whom is a high-risk immunocompromised child, and maintain my own sanity by doing so.
My rushed grocery attempts are something out of a war movie. I brace for the worst while I focus on my task at hand: feeding my family. When I return home, it is a scene out of a chemical crime scene, in which I literally Hazmat myself and the products I have brought into the home. Safe to say, this crisis will have lasting effects that have yet to be seen for those of us with mental health issues. Some wars are never won.
I have heard some say that this is our ‘new normal.’ This could take months, or years, to fully clear from our world. Or, worse, it may become a new flu virus we encounter every year. Regardless, nothing about this is ‘normal.’ New or otherwise. It’s frightening and breathtaking and surreal. We can’t fix it with money, politics or religion.
The safeguarding we are supposed to be doing isn’t being taken seriously by everyone on the planet, so the virus spreads and takes lives with it. Most are hunkering down and staying home, thereby protecting themselves, their families and others. Well done. And to those who dismiss the threat as not serious, you are the breakdown in this war. You are the soldiers gone AWOL. Shame on you.
The call to battle to do nothing
Many of us who are creatives are using the time to do just that… create. Personally, I have been on a creative shutdown. A larger-than-life creative block. I’m told that this is my own mind going into protective mode, doing what it must to keep me focused on my family’s protection.
I suppose that’s true. But I assumed that if I would ever be faced with precisely what I wanted—no need to go out to work, and to be stuck at home indefinitely—that I would do nothing but write and paint and create all day, every day. It hasn’t happened. This is the first piece I have attempted to write since the pandemic has begun. I haven’t touched my art studio. I can barely string thoughts together. So much for the opportunity to finally write a novel!
I guess the call to battle takes priority in my mind.
And maybe that’s OK. Maybe this will teach us all that sometimes, we should just be. We see the memes, the posts and comments, the self-help instructions that tell us to go within, just breathe, just be. Don’t do anything. And now we are forced to do just that, and we’re struggling with it.
Maybe, we are finally seeing that we require such a shift in our lifetime, to stop the monetary treadmill, the mental duress, the exhausting volatility that has become our existence. Maybe we now will be forced to reassess how we function as people, as humanity.
We only have ourselves to blame for this. And we are the only ones who can repair our broken, dying world right now. And all we have to do is ‘be.’ At home. Away from others. For however long it takes to slow the process of terror, of death and destruction. It’s not a lot to ask, and it likely will become some sort of normal for us as we recover from this. I truly hope so.
Never before has it been more vital to understand that money, prestige, jobs, ‘stuff,’ is really not of any true value. Most refuse to see that. The stock market plunged, gas prices dropped and people went into shock.
Folks were told to stop gathering for what they deemed to be important events—concerts, business conferences, making movies and TV shows—the world that most people think is vital, or aspects of it, have all stopped. They are not of value when it comes to staying alive. WE, the people, are what is of value. Our very LIVES.
A shift in humanity
Maybe, just maybe, we will see a shift in humanity. I pray this happens. Because from what I have seen, this world has shown me how ugly it can get. Yes, there are gems of beauty out there, showing us that hope abounds for a better world once we are past this. But overall, it’s been ugly, selfish and negative.
I wonder if this virus has been introduced to our lives to change us. And if so, will it work? Will we come together, humanity as a whole, by staying far apart, long enough, to truly show we give a damn about one another? Can we even do this? I am not sure. I know that sounds very disheartened and negative, but I can’t help but have doubts. All I need to do is step outside of my comfort zone (my front door), for an ‘essentials-run,’ and I see it.
But I digress.
Our world is at war, with an unknown, terrifying, invisible enemy. And our only call to battle is to stay put. Stay home. Stay away. Separate from others. Literally the opposite call to war, in comparison to any previous worldwide battle ever. Can we answer this call? We must. It may not be what we signed up for, but is anything, ever?
Stay safe and answer your call.
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