Viral Vicissitudes

Back Off Ya Varmint! 'Face to Face' with COVID-19        If you were assigned the task of creating a caricature of COVID (no laughing matter, this) what essential features would it include? Would it have wings from a bat from a wet market? What would the 'face of COVID' have to include? Our worse nightmare depictions probably come to mind (the face of the clown from Stephen King's "It" which was initially benign but becomes lethal?). And how would you incorporate those COVID cell projections, the illustrations we have been inundated with since early in the pandemic? You know, those cellular structures that from a distance resemble a toy a toddler would enjoy tossing around, but turn out to have a highly insidious nature, potentially lethal to those who unwittingly absorb them, leaving internal scars to many who survive.        Now, if you were to choose a character/spokesperson (or hybrid) to represent the 'anti-COVID' position, who would it b...

This House is Clean! (well, maybe not yet) - COVID-19: Compliance or Complicity?        Depending on your age, you will readily recall a scene from "Poltergeist" (if you are from the You Tube generation, please briefly view) where a medium has just declared a family's house to be free from evil spirits, shortly after which we find the declaration to be premature. We can now all relate, as we have heard various viral forecasters imply, if not explicitly declare, that the "virus has left town...come on in, the water's fine!...it's time to get back to normal...". Only to find out as recent as June 26th "...the state of....has had to rethink opening up after a record number of COVID cases were diagnosed, apparently related to mass gatherings in such public places as...people refusing to wear masks or hand washing..." As individuals and as a society we have been at this place so many times, you think we would have learned by now. Did we think we c...

A Time of COVID, A Time of Protest,....A Great Time to be Alive?!        So, how are you doing about three months after COVID 'came a-calling' and in the midst of a 'pandemic of polarity' in our country? Better off, I hope, after reading and reflecting on the following...        Growing up listening to radio (often in the form of over-hearing it as my father was getting ready for work and I was trying to sleep in the adjacent room), I would hear the unmistakable voice of Paul Harvey, shortly after reviewing some difficult news of the day, remind us why "It's a great time to be alive", by also reviewing some modern medical miracles and/or acts of humanity. This conviction was in part born in the crucible of a family who lost their police officer father who, while attempting to break up a robbery, was shot and killed when Paul was only three years old.         Shortly after surviving the concentration camps and realizi...

The Sky is Falling! In Defense of Anxiety 2.0: Weighing Your Risks        Henny Penny, more commonly known in the U.S. as Chicken Little, hysterically assumes the sky is falling, that disaster is imminent, when an acorn falls on his head. How many of us have at least occasionally over-reacted at the first signs of danger, only to find out there was little or nothing to be afraid of? When I speak of anxiety (daily) in my office I frequently use this story as an illustration of our anxiety working overtime, being overly vigilant, like a dog barking at the postal carrier when they are attempting to deliver good news to us. While annoying and at times disruptive to our daily lives, being overanxious has some advantages over the polar opposite. That is, how many of us have failed to recognize the signs of impending danger or risk, with eventual regret? This is the type of example I posed in the first "In Defense of Anxiety", where you are 'at risk' of ignoring your anx...

Feeling 'Blue'? A Time for Sadness to Shine        There is not a single individual I have encountered throughout the past few pandemic months who have escaped moments of sadness. If one did not experience sadness having lost contact, opportunity, or income, they would not be considered 'normal', of course. While certainly not of our choosing nor a time to celebrate (there's that word vicissitudes again), such moments instigate a reflection on the functional role(s) sadness might actually can play in our lives.        In the 2015 Pixar film "Inside Out", the character of Sadness (blue of course), while characterized as burdensome and obstructionist early on, eventually reveals her redeeming purpose, becoming an unsuspecting hero in a few of the most tender and profound parts of the preadolescent's journey. As the voice of Sadness (Phyllis Smith from "The Office") explains, "Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of li...

Just Another Face in the Crowd?        Countless numbers of songs, movies, and books have been written regarding the transformation some individuals experience when they leap from relative obscurity to notoriety: "Until her book became a best seller, she was just another face in the crowd" (or, in Eminem's case, expressed in more 'colorful' language). Most of us can relate, not necessarily to being well known but the fear of being 'lesser known'. Consider, for example, an initial conversation I had recently with an octogenarian, which started with, "Part of my fear over leaving this world, is that people will quickly forget me, that I will be just another face in the crowd."        As the number of COVID cases accumulated into the hundreds of thousands, an emergent mantra included "...each individual being treated or lost...." and other such attempts to track the value of each individual's case or identity in the presence of suc...

Degrees of Separation: 'Social Distancing' Before and After COVID        Social distancing (or more accurately at the present time, physical distancing) has been with us for decades, sometimes in forms we don't readily recognize as being similar to what we are currently experiencing. While we have been enduring not being able to see some family and friends on our own terms due to externally imposed sanctions (e.g., "stay at home", "shelter in place", "lock down the town", etc.), there are thousands if not millions of us who have actually been either directly or indirectly self selecting such an experience. In this space I offer a few notable categories.        Consider, for example, a conversation I had in my office with eight year-old Darla, who was lamenting about not being able to see parts of her family or friends on various days, especially weekends. In response to my naïve question as to whether she was allowed to see them, she rep...