Is this like day 1,000 for Covid 19 here in the U.S.? It sure seems like it. For months we have been Zooming and doing all other type of virtual meetings. I handled this for the first few months ok, but this is going beyond my ability to be isolated. I don’t think that I am alone. Even the most introverted people are slowly going crazy.
What I have not seen much of in the news, is the emotional damage this virus is placing on the world. There is no official end date. Nobody knows when it will end. This is not emotionally healthy.
Connect the dots
Based on my own emotions, there is a lot of angst with not knowing when something like this is going to end. The future is very uncertain. We are told that when a vaccine is created, this will end, but there is no real date on that either because they don’t know when and if a successful vaccine will be found. There is no guarantee.
For us personally, we have been keeping busy with little projects to keep our minds off of the virus, but we don’t have any clue when all of our big projects which have been put on hold will ever be resumed. This type of uncertainty causes anger as well as depression. Over the past 30 days our country has experienced a level of anger and hostility that I have not seen in over 50 years. I’m not saying that the public outcry over what happened to George Floyd is not called for, but the resulting looting and anger that has poured out is also due to people being uncertain about their future as well as pent up frustrations over the virus.
Why all of the unkindness?
There is such a lack of grace, love and otherwise kindness going on. Instead of realizing that Covid 19 and the restrictions placed upon us are causing all of us to be very short fused, we feel that our feelings are 100% justified, no matter what the subject is.
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Without a vision, the people perish.” That’s what is going on. We don’t have a vision, we don’t have an end date, we don’t see the finish line. Maybe it should be, “Without an end date, the people go crazy.”
What’s the point?
After an extended time of putting off trips, weddings, vacations and every other type of activity that requires people to congregate, it’s rather pointless to plan any event. All of us need something to look forward to. During the work week, we look forward to the weekend. When there are so few things that you can do during the weekend, this has made the weekend a non-event. Vacation, summer camp, family reunions or going to a theme park are all out the window. Even going to your local zoo has become virtual or so restricted that it’s not even fun. The emotional toil that this virus has put upon the world is worse than the virus in my opinion. How long can we go on without a finish line?
Mask vs no mask
Do you actually think this crazy Karen mentality is all about wearing a mask? No, it’s the result of the emotional toil this virus is taking on people. When we have no control over our lives, we project our frustrations onto others. We don’t even feel as if we have control over what we wear which is a very personal choice. We resent that this virus is making us wear masks in the first place. It’s not the mask, it’s the control that this virus has over us. We are angry at something that we cannot see nor we can control.
We need emotional support
What we need is emotional support for the feelings that all of us are going through. The media doesn’t help with their sensationalist type of reporting. Everything has become click bait, feeding on the angst that we all feel. We need for all leaders to talk about hope, loving one another and giving one another the benefit of the doubt. Most importantly, to be able to find some way to give all of us a vision. We need to find a means to connect safely in person, not by Zoom, so that we can share each other’s pain while we figure out how to put an end to this nightmare that we are all living in.
