Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Going down the rabbit hole

I’ve officially reached the point where I believe we’re living in a horror novel. Didn’t Stephen King write this? The Dead Zone. The Stand. A modern day prescient writer.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed at all the pretty landscape pictures when a video from a nurse autoplayed at me. How awful is it that warnings like the one she recorded have to be broadcast at all? That people don't seem to understand how dangerous this virus is? Hospitals have to decide who lives and who dies because, as she put it, instead of doing everything they can to save patients, they no longer have the resources to do so. Yes, I've been reading the stories, from the time these horrible decisions had to be made in Italy. Yes, I'm horrified, but I'm also doing my part to stop the spread. I can't understand why some people aren't.

We're in this together. I know that not everyone understands the concept of common sense (and try to make sense of any of this!), but the message we're getting from our governor here in Illinois is clear. Stay home. And most states are on board with that idea. I see people in the grocery store who don't take this warning seriously, they go laughing and filling up the aisles and dare me to ask for my "safe distance." I turn around and go the other way, and I wish them well.

I've been limiting my FB time these days to maintain my sanity, and when I'm there, I try to skip past all the ugliness - not because I want to turn a blind eye, but because I can't deal with the divisiveness and the fear and the pain. We all feel it, some more than others. I've always been an introvert, and I'm tellin' ya, I could easily become agoraphobic. This pandemic is providing the training, for sure! With that being said, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get outside and take a walk when the weather is cooperative. I wave to everyone I see because we all need a smile and a friendly face. And then I come back inside and lose myself in the worlds that I create - or at least I try to. When you're living in a Stephen King novel, it's hard to write something optimistic, but I try. And when I can't, I lose myself in my favorite authors, catching up on my TBR.

Is it wrong that I'm currently reading a Stephen King book?

2 comments:

  1. I think what scares me most of all is how many people think this is all "Much ado about nothing." I've had to wean myself from Facebook as much as possible, especially not looking at my feed before going to bed.

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