Lessons From COVID-19

A lot of stuff is going to be learned after all this COVID stuff is done. We are all connected, all of our energy is here all the time. If you have a little voice, or inner voice, or you believe that there is an in-between in the here and now, y'all gotta pay attention. Complacency builds like sediment and soon-enough the river has a new shape, if not new course. Rivers, however, always reach their destination so they are the embodiment of resilience, however twisted they are.

So, with texting, and emails, and Slack, and FaceTime, and fill-in-your-communication-choice-here, the minutia communications of life get rolled in with the important ones, and every message effectively gets diluted. And emoji use, just doesn't convey enough: maybe that ❤️ really means a 5 paragraph letters of hearts -- how is anyone to know? 

So advice. Yes, I am actually offering up advice, something that I am forcefully loath to do. For all the stellar dyads out there, each of you grab an email address that only your other half knows about (well, excluding Wayfair, but, you know!) so that each of you have a dedicated communication channel. Then, when a message gets sent on that channel, you know that it's the real deal, that it conveys real meaning and it requires real attention. It can be any message, a message of love, a playful message, a somber message, but you know it was sent with serious, deliberate intent. The shuffle will lose everyone, avoid playing its game.  

The Difference 

The Best Shower I've Ever Taken Is Always My Most Recent Shower

The best shower I've ever taken is always my most recent shower; I'm exceptionally grateful for hot water and those before me who made it not only possible, but effortless. In a slightly similar vein of thinking, and something that causes me pause and deep reflection: anyone's problem is everyone's problem. We can isolate and rationalize, and there are definitely folks who reap their negative sowing (and calling them out for it is just a form of rationalizing), but at 7 billion, everything aggregates. Sometimes those ripples cross geographical barriers and cross generations, making them difficult to see, but they ripple nonetheless. It's soul crushing for an individual to take on the burden of 7 billion, and it's certainly not feasible, but what is the consequence of doing nothing? What's the consequence of acquiring power and/or money (or both) and not only doing nothing, but seeking out the weaknesses of others and calling them out for it? The aggregate good! -- perhaps it's impossible, perhaps nothing quenches the individual's absolute thirst for survival. I've always assumed the human brain evolved to transcend its own biology, but if we are just someone else's lunch, we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to extend life, and that may be the most unnatural activity on our planet.