Low and High

I have the persistent company of four sweet cats! They aren’t always sweet to each other, but we’ve come a long way since the big old Cash was trying to kill the kittens (who were born in my office last summer when I fostered their pregnant mother). Now he just chases them when he’s hungry, and when I ignore his affection.

So, the cats keep things feeling somewhat normal, and seek me out to sit on my lap, which is comforting.

Yesterday I got really worried and depressed half-way through the day, reading an article about how we may have to practice extreme social distancing for 18 month, until a vaccine for COVID-19 is available. What would that mean, what would that do to society, to our minds, to our kids’ education and emotions and psyche? What is the point of this homeschool experiment, it feels so ad hoc and almost random, just throwing together things that sound right. What value do they really have, are they just a distraction? Thinking of it going on for even a few months is at times overwhelming.

Then there are the other fears - Will we run out of food? Will I have to stop eating the massive quantities of salad I consume every day?

Will our society survive? Maybe there will be places on the planet where the virus is less prevalent, and that will mean economies there have a chance to become stronger. Maybe this virus will effect rich countries the most, places where people travel and connect and rely on goods from far away. We were spoiled and we’ll suffer. We have to re-learn to rely on ourselves and make and fix and grow things.

Anyway, those are the cheerful thoughts that kept me up last night. Now I feel confused and groggy!

But here’s a thought that lifted my spirit this morning: Think of all the brilliant, thoughtful, creative, passionate, concerned, wondering, hard-working people all over this town, all over this country, the world - all (or most) stuck at home, now faced with finding meaning and work to do in this limited space. I am seeing their faces in Facebook videos, playing songs, sharing stories and messages to help each other, to help themselves. We have this - we have good people there. So even if I feel pretty low right now, I think the rest of the world on the whole is going to carry us. We can take turns.