by A time to be cautious
by SE, Lynnwood, WA
I have never been a germaphobe, but something in me tells me now is the time to be overly, overly, overly cautious. One thing that I find difficult to do is to avoid thinking of just how long these drastic isolation steps will need to be taken. Unfortunately, the news tells us that a vaccine is not going to be developed or able to be distributed at the very least for one to one and a half years. I cannot imagine how we will live for that time in almost total isolation, but we will do that if we need to in order to stay alive and well!
Panic and fear
by Donald Baptiste, Seattle, WA
I an standing in line at the grocery store and I have never seen this much panic and fear in people’s eyes.
Stronger together
by Louise R, Lecanto, FL
Our logo for this year’s cancer fundraiser and golf tournament is Stronger Together. We will all get through this together.
The chairpeople of the Men’s Member Guest and Ladies’ Member Guest have just announced that both golf tournaments have been canceled. That’s a big deal at a country club like this.
And the woman who is liaison with the charity for which we work so hard at Christmas has just canceled the big dinner party she has every year for all the captains to thank us all for our efforts.
Minor blips when one looks at the total picture.
Joy has a transformative effect
by Colin Berg, Redmond, WA
I live within five miles of the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. As a result, I’m currently working from home as part of a corporate decision to minimize community exposure. The sudden change in routine and the level of collective anxiety and fear not only brings this particular crisis into very tangible reality. It also raises the questions of mortality, how we want to live and how we’re actually living.
Like fear, joy has a transformative effect. In fact, the expansiveness of joy can disarm and heal the contraction of fear. Not with wishful, magical thinking. It doesn’t pretend that by simply looking the other way we can make whatever frightens us go away. Or deny that anything is wrong at all, leaving us floating on the surface of our fear, seemingly untouched by it, but unable to move beyond it.
Joy is not putting on a happy face.
Joy is clear-eyed and courageous. It doesn’t pretend or deny. It does, however, let us reset our priorities and reframe our story. It allows us to experience our fears, expose our vulnerabilities, without losing our center. Joy is our ground luminosity, our gravitational field.
So, periods of stress and fear are the perfect time to remember what brings us joy. Not as a distraction, but as an anchor.
Click here to read the rest of Colin’s blog post, which he kindly gave me permission to except from.
Staying in touch
by May Collier, Caldwell, ID
Already, a friend from Washington and I just used Zoom to be touch in with one another. I’m going to be bringing in my group members from Washington into my Healing Thru Music group via Zoom, so they can participate too. I realize that this might have to be the way we get together in groups for a while — until the fear is eliminated.
Ruth Neuwald Falcon 
Here in Medford Oregon, all the paper goods are out of stock as they are on most places. Everything is cancelled including our Oregon Shakespeare theater which is our main source of income from tourists. I find that the panic and fear is palpable and I also am stunned that, even though the numbers keep climbing as to corona virus cases, the number of people who have already recovered is barely reported. I find that so unacceptable that only the seriousness of this is dealt with, not even sparks of hope that many will be fine. So hang in there, keep the elderly and compromised as a priority, but this will pass. Too many in society live in a reality show atmosphere and that is as unhealthy as the virus. I hope nobody throws eggs at me but this is how I feel about it right now. The last website I looked at said There are approx 2200 cases in the whole country, only 10 of which are serious or critical. I’m hoping it stays that way. Blessings.
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