Saturday, March 21, 2020

Fearless



You say the hill's too steep to climb
Chiding!
You say you'd like to see me try
Climbing!

The last week brought a dizzying cycle of denial, realization, pain, loss, hope, and fear, all in no particular order. Everywhere in the world, people are getting sick and dying at the hands of an invisible enemy. The same foe has destroyed successes built through the hard work of decades in a matter of days. One of our most basic needs: to be near our friends and loved ones, has become verboten. We cannot go where we want to go. It’s all so painful to watch and experience. To paraphrase Thomas Paine’s words from a similarly fraught time in our history, these are the times that try our souls.

Where is all of this heading? Only God knows. One thing is certain: the confusion and trials of the last week are not over. While society does what it can to soften the blows, they will continue, and we don't know for how long. What to do?

In America, let’s join together as patriots. We’ve got the invisible enemy at the gates, and it must be stopped. Ascribe the best intentions to our political leaders at all levels regardless of your affiliations or theirs. They are all doing the public work of trying to keep us safe. The questions of how and why we got here are important, but for another day. Grab an oar and help pull the boat forward. The alternative is defeat, needless loss, and chaos. Those things are nowhere in 243 years of American DNA.    

Find silver linings in this dark cloud. They’re there. Instead of carping about being stuck in your homes, consider this: never again for the rest of our lives are we likely to have this much uninterrupted time with our families, spouses, and partners. Never again will this many weeks pass without the (understandable) interruptions represented by ceaseless work, socializing, spend-the-nights, vacations, and [you name it]. This time together is a gift. Embrace it and see the good in it.

Seeing my fellow Athenians attack our streets for every available form of exercise—all at responsible social distances—has been a joy. Healthy habits will come out of this. The value of Fresh Air is rising every single day all around us. We can carry the health and well-being that Fresh Air brings forward to all sorts of good ends.

Seeing our inherent kindness as humans bubble back to the surface has been wonderful. Think backwards a month. How did you look at your fellow citizens? How do you look at them now? Has it changed? Are you trying to force them into one camp or another in your mind as you look around today, or do you feel more attached to them? We were in this together a month ago, and we’re in it together today. What’s changed? We’ve all been reminded of the critical necessity of working together. We should embrace that moving forward and do better.

We’re all suffering through this crisis in our own ways, but we should suffer together. Let’s all stay in touch! I haven’t valued telephone conversations with friends as much in my adult life as I have for the last week; it’s been therapeutic to hear their observations, fears, and how they are fighting through these scary days. Texts hardly cut it. It means so much to hear each other’s voices, and to video chat, teleconference, Marco Polo, Skype, or whatever system in the world you use to see other people’s faces without being right next to them. 

I have a deeper appreciation for the people I know and love than I did a week ago, and I’m going to work hard to remember that when we get on the back side of this unpleasantness. And we’re going to. It’ll happen faster if we whip this enemy together. Fearless.

Take care of yourselves in every way.

Spence