Thursday, July 9, 2020

Day 120

It is July 9, 2020 and the pandemic has now been four months and since that is one indication that it will be around for quite some time I am sharing today the "Experts’ understanding of how the Covid-19 works is growing. It seems that there are four factors that most likely play a role: how close you get to an infected person; how long you are near that person; whether that person expels viral droplets on or near you; and how much you touch your face afterwards.

You can help reduce your risk and do your part to protect others by following some basic steps:

Keep your distance from others. Stay at least six feet away from people outside your household as much as possible.

Wash your hands often. Anytime you come in contact with a surface outside your home, scrub with soap for at least 20 seconds, rinse and then dry your hands with a clean towel.

Avoid touching your face. The virus primarily spreads when contaminated hands touch our nose or mouth or eyes. Try to keep your hands away from your face unless you have just recently washed them.

Wear a mask outside your home. A mask protects others from any potential infection from you. The more people who wear masks, the more we all stay safer."

Now onto other musings: The animals have a limit to their sensitivity, as well as their intellect, which lends itself to their instinctive lifestyle. As humans we are subject to our sensitivity leading us to engage in a conscious battle to seek pleasure and avoid pain.  The subconsciousness plays a role in this because it is constantly conjuring up dreadful memories (pain) or joyful occasions (pleasure) of our past while also projecting either the despair (pain) or hope (pleasure) of our future.  The more primordial we can become the less likely we are to be sensitive to the extremes of life such as utter joy and loss due to death.  By this I am referring to our ability to live more in the present moments (like animals do) rather than become hard and insensitive (this would make us less human and that is not my intention). It is our dwellings on the past and promise of the future that puts into states of guilt, anxiety and fear. 

In The Wisdom of Insecurity, Alan Watts, says, "The power of memories and expectations is such that for most human beings the past and the future are not as real, but more real than the present. The present cannot be lived happily unless the past has been cleared up and the future is bright with promise" 

In the time of a pandemic with not clear vision of the future many humans are distraught with the present because the future is not "bright with promise".  Thus be allowing our minds to jump between the past and the future we never see, hear, smell, taste and touch the present.  And we will never know and appreciate the joy that is to come if we never embrace the "now" since we will always be looking to the future. Sometimes we have to put the future on hold and just say,
"Whatever will be will be The future's not ours to see Que sera sera What will be will be" while taking a more I will cross that bridge when I come to it stance. In the meantime enjoy the bridge you are crossing and stay present to the current state of your life and all it has to offer. If you are healthy, move and breathe and allow your limbs take you places. If you are loved, smile and allow yourself to be loved and doted on and open your heart to both the beauty and the tragedy comes with intimacy. 

By preparing to live you may fail to live. Enjoy all you have now.  The future holds no promise of something better.  It holds promise to become the present, if and only if, we are presently there to enjoy it as it is. 

"We may lose and we may win
But we will never be here again" Take it Easy-lyrics by Glenn Frey and Jackson Browne

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