Love in the Time of Corona #2

Friday night
It is amazing what other people resort to in these times. One friend finished a novel. Another writes poems. I write because (like Joan Didion) I don't know what I am thinking until I write it down. But now is different. Even after writing it down I am still floundering. We have never been in this place before. We have no clue what this new world will look like next week, or in a month or year. On the radio I hear people suggesting good books for others to read, (never mind that the libraries are closed) or suggestions about ways to save money and connect with your kids. All the palaver about whether we can stop distancing by April 14th is so vapid. You are kidding, right? China is not over it yet, and we're going to be in 2 weeks. Uh-huh.
STAY AT HOME: ‘YOUR GRANDPARENTS WERE CALLED TO WAR. YOU’RE BEING CALLED TO SIT ON YOUR COUCH.’ 

You CAN do this.

When my daughter turned 13 we discovered a large bone tumor on her arm. I freaked out, of course, and insisted she be seen immediately and withing a few hours we are hearing about the possibility of cancer, loosing her arm...etc. On the way to Shriner's Hospital in Minneapolis it occurred to me that we were entering uncharted territory and that is what I proposed to her: "We have no idea what this will be like, what will happen next, but it is a new adventure; something we have never experienced before, and I believe God knows it all and we can trust that He will be with us." I hope that gave her courage. Perhaps my strength, my curiosity about the future could strengthen her. I will have to ask if about that, though it is 20 years later now.

As a writer I am both energized and simultaneously exhausted. As it all sinks in, day after day, I ponder that I can see how some people can panic and become unglued, but I am hyper-curious, if there is such a word. I can write endlessly all of a sudden: books on being the last woman on earth, though I don't do science fiction. I can write all sorts of apocalyptic fiction, the cosmos are the limit.
But then I think of Anne Frank who hid in an attic for 2 years. She couldn't go outside. And they didn't have enough food. She wrote:
 I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be 

happy.

another great blog from Lima, Peru:
: http://rollingluggagers.blogspot.com/2020/

To comment on this please email me at ssskimchee@gmail.com