March 31, 2020
Today’s observation – the humor in
these times is dark and getting darker because gallows humor is what is in the
mirror. Yesterday in a group text exchange with my sons and distant partner, I
shared a fun little video of my Westie wrestling a treat filled toy while
sappily singing, “what do you do with a bored little terrier…” The reply came
in quickly – “All dogs in the shelters have been adopted, people are going crazy.”
And that begged the next comment – “Back up food supply.” Then – “Yeah, it’s a
Bark-up supply line.” On the insight side, there is a meme circulating that
shows how things have changed in only a century (since the last major
pandemic): 1920 – Alcohol and cannabis are illegal. 2020 – Liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries
are an essential business during a national health crisis. And then there is
this one floating around: “Ran out of toilet paper and now using lettuce
leaves. Today just the tip of the iceberg, tomorrow romaines to be seen.” And
this classic exchange: (After a few
weeks of isolation) “Where’s your husband?” “In the garden” “I didn’t see him” “You
need to dig deeper, luv.”
Today’s idea – Resilience, we are
gonna need as much of it as toilet paper.
I have been thinking about this since my faculty Zoom meeting today. Colleagues
were hashing over the minutia of our transition from physical face to face
teaching to our virtual classrooms. Look,
I recognize the importance and the desire to create an excellent replacement
experience. And I appreciate the hell out
of our wise administrators who pepper the conversation with reminders to be
flexible. I just hope those who are
focused on precise execution of this new way of teaching (for many of us), and who are seeking the green light for high student performance expectations (even in the
face of this tablecloth shake out we are in), will remember to also model
another important character trait and coping skill: resilience. Out of our prescient
summer reading selection – Onward by Elena Aguilar, is a fitting definition, “Simply
put, resilience is how we weather the storms in our lives and rebound after
something difficulty.” Here it is! Our central lesson, our essential theme now –
the BIG IDEA to promote. RESILIENCE! (keep the caps lock on that word) Meanwhile, in its timely
fashion, nature holds up its mirror. The
big MUDDY MISSISSIPPI rises with its Spring pulse and last year, it was monumental.
There are wetlands and marshes and river towns and railroad tracks and roads
and farming fields that all stand ready for another deep soaking, even in this
time of pandemic. There is little choice,
I see, but to focus on our adaptive behaviors – SINK or SWIM.
Today’s image – We are approaching our
first month of managing the Homefront with this pandemic – tempering our
routines and then moving to more restrictive lifestyles, and we are already growing
restless and stressed out. When will it
be over? Imagine how things will look/feel in
another month, going into May and June.
Especially as the virus infiltrates the heartrending and most vulnerable
populations: jails, prisons, homeless shelters, nursing homes. Today the death toll in the US was close to
3500 as computer models show that we could reach the apex around mid-April
with a death toll of up to 100,000.
Fauci says, 200,000. And still
there will be casualties that are the fallout of a gutted medical system fully
under siege already. All I can think is,
HOLD ON! THIS IS WHAT EPIC REALLY LOOKS
LIKE!
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