I thank the lucky stars that I am the only hold out still on Long Island. He does calm you down. I have seen his updates and he is just calm and saying things that make you feel better. How the more you test the more it goes up and that is not a bad thing. I especially loved his 100 toilet paper and where do you store them comment. He make you understand the logic of what they are doing.
@jessi1978, oh yes -- that toilet paper comment! I howled at that. He said it in that great New Yawker way. I especially appreciated how he closed his remarks by asking us to focus on our humanity -- to be kind, etc. I also liked his address to some of the young people who are not practicing social distancing. He specifically mentioned young people hanging out at the parks, and he was going to go down to the parks today. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want to mess with him.
I love people from New York.
@kksali, it's quite lovely seeing so many families taking walks during the day. And the dogs are happy -- they're getting a lot more walks!
That's wonderful about your son. It makes me wonder how many more kids might be happier without that added stress? Not just from school, but from all of the after-school/weekend activities?
It was great that you realized that you you were having a panic attack. I went through a traumatic period 20 or so years ago and they are incredibly intense!
We have a lot of processing in the night whether we are asleep and dreaming or awake and not sleeping at all
But boy I loved your understandings and realizations ?
"The sun even came out at that moment, giving me hope. I smiled. I walked away feeling, we can do this. We will get through this. We all have a part to play; we're not powerless. We will be better people at the end of this experience.
My only regret was, I wish Cuomo was running our country riggreat!
Boy I SO agree. He was greaaat!
I appreciate this forum very much. The thoughts everyone shares and information about other sources to follow are so helpful.
I just saw this poem below and it moved me deeply. I thought others here might like it as well. Source:
The author, Kristin Flyntz, is an assistant editor for Dark Matter: Women Witnessing.
--
An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans
Stop. Just stop.
It is no longer a request. It is a mandate.
We will help you.
We will bring the supersonic, high speed merry-go-round to a halt
We will stop
the planes
the trains
the schools
the malls
the meetings
the frenetic, furied rush of illusions and “obligations” that keep you from hearing our
single and shared beating heart,
the way we breathe together, in unison.
Our obligation is to each other,
As it has always been, even if, even though, you have forgotten.
We will interrupt this broadcast, the endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions,
to bring you this long-breaking news:
We are not well.
None of us; all of us are suffering.
Last year, the firestorms that scorched the lungs of the earth
did not give you pause.
Nor the typhoons in Africa, China, Japan.
Nor the fevered climates in Japan and India.
You have not been listening.
It is hard to listen when you are so busy all the time, hustling to uphold the comforts and conveniences that scaffold your lives.
But the foundation is giving way,
buckling under the weight of your needs and desires.
We will help you.
We will bring the firestorms to your body
We will bring the fever to your body
We will bring the burning, searing, and flooding to your lungs
that you might hear:
We are not well.
Despite what you might think or feel, we are not the enemy.
We are Messenger. We are Ally. We are a balancing force.
We are asking you:
To stop, to be still, to listen;
To move beyond your individual concerns and consider the concerns of all;
To be with your ignorance, to find your humility, to relinquish your thinking minds and travel deep into the mind of the heart;
To look up into the sky, streaked with fewer planes, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy?
To look at a tree, and see it, to notice its condition: how does its health contribute to the health of the sky, to the air you need to be healthy?
To visit a river, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, clean, murky, polluted? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy? How does its health contribute to the health of the tree, who contributes to the health of the sky, so that you may also be healthy?
Many are afraid now.
Do not demonize your fear, and also, do not let it rule you. Instead, let it speak to you—in your stillness,
listen for its wisdom.
What might it be telling you about what is at work, at issue, at risk, beyond the threats of personal inconvenience and illness?
As the health of a tree, a river, the sky tells you about quality of your own health, what might the quality of your health tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees, the sky, and all of us who share this planet with you?
Stop.
Notice if you are resisting.
Notice what you are resisting.
Ask why.
Stop. Just stop.
Be still.
Listen.
Ask us what we might teach you about illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be well.
We will help you, if you listen.
-Kristin Flyntz 3.12.2020
This morning I had a bad asthma attack. I became very frightened during and after. My man promises he will keep me safe and we will survive. He can't really promise me that but if love can save me, I will be lucky.
It's all so random. BUT we do have some power. For me, I am self isolating and on day 8. My job is transitioned to online tutoring and I am on staycation. No longer doing the long, long commutes 4 days a week is allowing me to heal my back.
I am home all day and night except for a walk daily. My man is laid off from one job and for the first time since we began dating we have time to spend.
I think the unintended gift in this nightmarescape is that we are being given the opportunity to heal our world with reduced pollution. We can also choose to use this time to connect with friends and family.
I keep coming back to the thought that we are more than our jobs. We are the spirits who consented to appear at this time for life lessons that really only the bravest could learn. We are all soul warriors.
Heard about some famous folks in the past who self isolated, Sir Isaac Newton being one. And that gave me comfort.
@ghandigirl, I'm glad that you're tutoring online and on staycation. And so happy that you and your man have one other. He sounds like a wonderful gift, as are you.
Do you know what caused your asthma attack? I can have asthma during allergy season, which has already begun here. Also if I become too stressed out. I've never had a major attack, but labored breathing on the heaviest pollen days. Northern Virginia probably isn't the best place to be for my allergies.
I agree that there are blessings in our slowing down and self-isolation. And many more blessings yet to be discovered.
I think it was probably triggered by stress. Maybe all the cleaning, laundry, and bleaching.
Sorry to hear you had a panic attack. The panic and uncertainty are hard to sit with. I am clinging to the Now as best as I can. Have to keep refocusing and reframing.
Yes he is a gift, but I think I have basically lost my daughter over him and that is a very sad outcome for me. Still, he is a very supportive and attentive partner.
Thanks for always liking my posts deetoo. I think in real life we would be great friends.
@michele-b and @ghandigirl, re my anxiety this morning: it hadn't quite reached the panic attack stage, i.e. with the racing heart and feeling like you're going to die. It's been a while since I've had one of those, and they're pretty awful. Plus I often have strange symptoms with my autoimmune challenges, and it takes some discernment for me to figure out what's going on. Sometimes it remains a mystery.
But under certain circumstances, I can be a hyper anxious person. And the fact that coronavirus has been in my psyche is probably why I immediately went to it this morning. My husband heard me taking my temperature, since the thermometer has a loud beep; after about the 10th time within an hour, my husband called out "why do you keep doing that?" That's when I put the thermometer down, sat quietly, tuned in and felt my sea legs.
Fear can turn one into a crazy person. ?
@ghandigirl, I can only imagine the sadness you feel about your daughter. But I strongly believe that story isn't over, so please remain hopeful. I am so glad that you are caring for and honoring yourself.
I have always felt a special connection with you, @ghandigirl. And although we don't live in the same town, I will always consider you a treasured friend.