When the World Needed to Catch Its Breath

The Covid-19 pandemic is real and if it has not yet made its way to your community it is coming, make no mistake. So please don’t wait. Think about this… If you ever again want to:

Attend a wedding or family reunion… stay home now.

Attend a football game with a tailgate before… stay home now.

Chat with neighbors and friends at a church service… stay home now.

Have a barbecue, block party or birthday party… stay home now.

Watch your kids at a school performance or sports match… stay home now.

Walk through parks, museums or shopping streets… stay home now.

Enjoy cultural events at a movie theater, play, broadway show, concert, art exhibit, festival, etc…. stay home now.

Travel and take a vacation… stay home now.

Enjoy coffee shops, restaurants and pubs… stay home now.

Browse through a bookstore, library, antique shop… stay home now.

Walk, swim, play frisbee or volleyball at the beach… stay home now.

Enjoy a laugh with colleagues around the office… stay home now.

Have a job again… stay home now.

And most importantly, if want to have the people you care about still here to hug in person some day… stay home now.

This is really hard for us all. In scary times or times of crisis, we naturally want to band and group together with our family and those who bring comfort yet this is exactly the kind of activity that puts winds in the sails of a pandemic. We cannot physically engage with people who are not currently under the same roof as us for now.

We do need to be kind and patient with ourselves and others though. Let’s revive the lost art of a friendly and meandering phone call. Send ‘thinking of you’ texts or emails to those we love. Learn how to do video gatherings. Send good vibes out to the world in whatever way you can while being at home — sing from your porch, wave across the street to your neighbors, make home-made gifts that one day in the future you can deliver. Open the windows and feel the breeze as a reminder that the world needs to catch its breath for a while and we should all help it make sure it does.

Sharing my personal thoughts above. I hope they help you pause, think, and be grateful for your life. Be safe, be well, stay home.