Something beautiful is happening, my friends. I’m seeing it in my own area, here in Western Massachusetts, but I know it’s happening elsewhere, too. I’m seeing people stepping up big time. They are taking steps that may be inconvenient or upsetting to them personally, or disruptive to their lives or their livelihoods, for the sake of those around them.
Here’s one example from my own experience that sums up what I am witnessing right now. The yoga studio I attend has shut down until April 1st, at least. My teacher sent out an email that starts this way: “It is out of deep respect for our little Yin community that I have decided to suspend my classes until the COVID-19 crisis has passed. Indeed, we at AYN have all decided that the best way we can be of service is to temporarily close the studio.” Reading this brought tears to my eyes. The teachers are working out how to offer classes via Zoom, but the fact remains: They made the choice to prioritize the health of our yoga community, even though this decision placed the studio’s ongoing existence in jeopardy. They acted out of love, because they knew that if they didn’t close, they could be jeopardizing the health and lives of our community members.
Seeing this and other examples of selfless acts, of deep concern for others, motivated me to seriously consider how I should be moving through the world right now. And reading two articles about the necessity of social distancing to help slow the pace of infections gave me the final push: I’ve decided to self-isolate for the next two weeks, at least. (See below the post for links to these articles.)
After I made this decision yesterday morning, and began cancelling various get-togethers I’d planned for the next week, I began feeling very selfish. After all, I don’t seem to be sick at the moment (but we all know by now that I might just be asymptomatic, but still contagious), and that means I could potentially be out helping others who are at greater risk than I. I really struggled with this feeling that I was somehow letting people down by staying home, instead of helping them. Then I went and reread one of those articles, in which the author wrote, “There are probably hundreds or thousands of cases in your community already. Every day that there isn’t social distancing, these cases grow exponentially.” Okay. That reminded me of why I’m doing this.
Then, last night, I came up with another way to remind myself, in coming weeks, of why I’ve committed to self-isolation. I took a sheet of paper, and wrote on it, “I’m doing this for ______________”. This morning I took some blue painter’s tape and wrote on it “Uncle John”. That’s my 99-year-old uncle who lives in California. I haven’t seen him in person in years, but we are in touch through occasional emails and rare phone calls – and through our heart connection, too. I wrote his name on the piece of tape, stuck that to the strip of paper, and put it up on my fridge, where I will see it dozens of times a day. That will remind me that by doing my part to slow transmission of this virus, I am helping keep Uncle John alive – as well as thousands of others I don’t even know. And I’ve decided that each day, I’ll write a new name on a new piece of tape, the name of a friend, relative, or acquaintance who’s elderly or at risk in another way, and stick it to the paper, atop the name that’s already there. I have enough names to last weeks. In fact, I have enough to last as long as this pandemic lasts. I bet you do, too.
Much love to you all.
Articles to check out: “Act Today or People Will Die” , “Flatten the Curve”
Sue Downing 