I don’t want to regurgitate the avalanche of horrific news bombarding us day after day, second upon the following second. I can hardly breathe; unspecified terrors fill my sleep, and feelings of being slightly unhinged haunt me during my waking hours. I can’t imagine my readers want more of that!
COVID initially created a similar malaise, but I devised a strategy to cope. I sewed masks for family, friends, co-workers, and Native Americans on reservations across the country from where I live. I stayed home, cooked in, and gave up shopping forays as well as travel domestically and abroad. Then the vaccines arrived, masks were plentiful, and people were more conscious of following the six feet apart footprints on the floors of many of our local businesses. I could cope. I got my muchness back, or at least most of it.
Who could have imagined that surviving a global pandemic would be easier than managing today’s plethora of crazy? The New York Times recently suggested summer movies as a panacea for our collective problems . . . as if . . . . We are not recovering from the winter doldrums but facing the possible extinction of our planet.
Too intense? Sorry. This week I learned to make homemade Greek yogurt. Will it restore my faith in humanity, my sense of future and possibility? Not sure, but learning new things, keeping up with chores and responsibilities, and being kind all contribute to our mental health, and we can all do them. I once asked my dad, an orthodox Jew, whether Jesus was the Messiah, as my Catholic school friends insisted. He replied, “If everyone actually practiced the gospel of Jesus, we would have world peace. If we believe what is written in Leviticus 25, God wants the land to be looked after and for all people to have access to the earth’s resources . . .”
I’m not much on religion, but it seems to me that we need to learn some lessons if we are to survive. Sleep peacefully, live with purpose, and be kind.
Carole J. Garrison 