Take a Break

I muted a few of my friends on Facebook today. I couldn’t stomach the spread of harmful misinformation and blatant disregard for others’ lives. I can’t even remember who they were. I’ve had the experience of a person stalking me down online when I blocked them on my Facebook, so I’m glad there are more settings like, “take a break” where they won’t take offense and hunt me down, silly people.

It was too disheartening to see how no matter what, people will believe what they want and not facts/reality. It’s chilling.

I stayed in bed most of the day, having a relapse with my cold symptoms (long covid). It’s still snowy and brrrrr here. I spent a lot of time reading about the pandemic. It seems the best approach is suppression based on what’s happened in other countries, but the US doesn’t have enough testing to do that yet. There is not a coordinated federal effort and the poor states are trying, but it’s a mess, really. Health care workers don’t have the protective gear they need either, running out of it everywhere.

I watched a silly movie to cheer me up, taking a break for my sanity. It reminded me of the movies I watched when I was a child, the black and white “scary” ones like Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Fly, The Mummy, Dracula, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, etc. On Saturday nights, they had Shock Theater on TV playing those B movies. We loved it! In the ’70s my Gonzales, LA relatives…cousins, aunts, uncles, my siblings, and I would all go see movies at the Pasqua theater together. As I watched this movie today, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, all of those happy memories were so soothing, much needed. I chuckled at the campiness.

This week it’s felt like a long Saturday morning where you’d get up early as a child to watch cartoons and stayed in your PJs all day. Except I’ve been glued to the crisis that’s unfolding globally. Wish it were cartoons.

The sad and infuriating things I muted on Facebook and the way this pandemic has been handled in the US reminded me of this series we’re watching called Avenue 5. Except for the powers that be aren’t malicious like they are IRL, as this is happening in the USA.

The people on Facebook who are in denial remind me of the characters on Avenue 5 who believed that it was a hoax, or they were on a reality show, kind of like The Truman Show, but they weren’t. One person started the idea and others believed her. They brazenly walked out into space, believing that on the other side of the airlock they’d find they were actually on Earth, that the ship was a TV set.

They died.

Please, everyone, be sensible and let’s help each other to live through this, as many people as possible. This is really happening, people are dying, health care workers must make heart-wrenching decisions. Do your part to help. Stop circulating lies and BS. Pay attention to the science, experts, and the people on the ground battling this pandemic.

Your positive vibes/prayer (though appreciated), denial, arguing about conspiracy theories and semantics won’t save us, but correct action will. Communicating/comprehending the truth will, social distancing will, flattening the curve will, and ultimately suppression will save the most.

It helps to stay hopeful and to spread positivity, but it’s most important to spread the word, get the point across, educate and inform. This is real. We’ve all got to do our part by taking it seriously, and many aren’t. The skeptics are putting us all in greater danger than they realize. It’s astonishing to me, the great divide. We’ve got so far to go as humans.

It is a crisis, we’re losing our jobs, our routines, all the things that we never imagined could really happen in our lifetimes, it’s big, scary, and real. Take a deep breath, pause, go within and get clear about the truth. Know that people who want the highest good for all surround you, they’re there, you can find them.

If you’re anxious and need help, there are so many resources being offered online for free. Ask for help, get the help and support you need. Take care of yourself too. We’re all in transition and it feels precarious. There is help a click away. So thankful we have the technology to keep us connected.