It's day 9 - Slow down

It is day nine in isolation and today I stepped outside to grab some essentials. I admit that I went with a friend who is also self -isolating for the same reasons as I and we used our own carts and avoided public transit and stood 6 feet apart and did all that we were supposed to. However, allow me to tell you further about my experiences in the outside vs what once was only two to three weeks ago. 

Firstly, there were line ups with tape outlined or sandbags marking where to stand outside the stores and bank. The employees wore gloves and had a space set up or plexiglass between us at checkout and some, like at the bank and Walmart, had an employee to guide us when we were allowed in. We were asked screening questions at the bank as well and notices were put on doors of new hours etc.  Now most did what they were supposed to and that’s good. But there were a few that did not. The first instance was seen of automatic response at the bank when people just wanted to cut in line or thought they could just walk in. Then it was seen at the Walmart where at lady was behind my friend and clearly not standing at the marked spot and a little too close for comfort if not almost two to 3 steps away and again a whole family shopping as well with their children!  Then it was seen at No Frills grocery store where a couple were shopping and they clearly were disregarding and not paying attention to the multiple and repeated messages on the PA saying stand 1 cart length away from people and stand on the grey tape at the checkout and had to be politely reminded by the clerk.

Now I note that there weren’t a lot of people. However compared to two or three weeks ago it certainly felt, more restricted, less crowded and busy and even calmer. I didn’t felt in a rush and I didn’t feel the anxiety that I normally feel when out shopping with busy in a rush shoppers. I think we all need to take a moment to think about this and that we need to slow down and take time to think, time to feel this calm  despite the uncertainty of what is to come. We need to take a step back and go, what were we thinking always rushing, always working. We never seem to take the time to look around us, look up from our phones or for our family and children.  I also note that the economy will be ok. Things such as toilet paper are making a comeback almost like an extinct species returning into the wild. That’s right, I found toilet paper!  Things also are not more expensive than they were five or six months ago or at least not at the places I was shopping. The only reason I think people are complaining is that they see it now with a lack of funds in their accounts and so they’re pinching and saving and buying only the cheapest items they can to try to save. I’ve always been conscious about my money spending habits to notice when something goes up or down or on sale. It’s not the end of the world and that’s how things are when things become or start to become scarce or harder to get which is why I even more so fully support doing home grown companies wherever possible.  

I also note the amount of personal space. It’s necessary to have personal space and some people just aren’t getting that concept. It’s not only a matter of respect but hey you’re in my personal bubble and if I don’t know you then please take a step back away from me please. I like having personal space and I’m sure there are others out there that do too. We need more of it. 

So another thing I’d like to address is our rights and freedoms here in Canada/North America and what’s going on.  Firstly the states are in more distress than even Canada is. I don’t always get political but my view is that they have a president who does not see the precedence of the matter and does not seem to deem lives of his people worthy unless they follow him like a dictatorship. States such as New York have had to fight and seek help over and over again and now they are at the epicenter of the states for this pandemic. It’s so bad they’re making a field hospital in Central Park and using makeshift morgues out of ice trucks etc because they don’t have the capacity to hold the amount of bodies and death toll of this virus. Then president Trump mocks and insults and accuses them of stealing ventilators and masks saying they don’t need them? How irresponsible and sickening. It’s also been indicated that they had more time to test and knew this was coming before it hit hard and did not take any measure of procedures to stop it in advance of any kind. 

Secondly I’ve heard reports of a few famous and rich people or people in power either dying of the virus here in NA or even in Germany where it’s supposed that a minister of finance took his own life due to the stress reigning down on him and his people, so much so that he couldn’t confront it. Which shows two things, firstly, it doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you have you can be affected in some way by this virus. Two, it shows that you can be in a position of power and still have mental health issues and struggles and that no one is lesser than anyone during this time.  Therefore when it comes to rights we all should have basic human rights of equality and equal medical access and we are all not above what is nature. And when I see reports of people disrespecting that human right and disregarding others lives such as the president does or even in my own city of London Ontario, a story of a man and woman just crossed my news feeds that they tore down the yellow tape at a playground because they were “free” they kept saying. 

I have news for you! You are not. No one is free of Mother Nature, or God, whichever you wish to choose. You are not free of this virus and no one is invincible to it. Our governments are putting these things up because of people like them who need to be reminded that they are not in control. No one is fully because this virus does not pick and choose who it infects. You are purposefully endangering another’s life by disregarding the rules put in place to protect all of us. I repeat ALL OF US! This is not a game, this is not a time to “rise up and fight for freedoms and rights”. This is not a time to picket and protest the government with an F-you! This is a time to be inside, healing. This is a time to, as I said before, reflect on what we were doing before that wasn’t working and come out doing it right. Be with your families, be here in the present. Stop wasting things and time. 

Another thing that has pressed my buttons and has in the past as well, is the amount of trash we humans lay behind. I’ve probably said it before but I’m going to say it again. The snow has melted and before all this I saw trash under it. However now we’re disposing gloves and masks in parking lots instead of our home trash. We’re still disregarding mother earth. I know that some of us can’t avoid trash, I get it we need to use certain things that include plastic wrapping or cans but some of this stuff can be reused, recycled and what can’t make sure you dispose of it properly! Don’t leave it laying around for animals to get at! I saw a bird today, a robin. Typically a sign of spring here in Canada but  other than admiring it’s beauty I felt sorry for it knowing that it  had just picked up trash for its nest and was also looking for food. I watched it as it picked up what I believed to be Kleenex and was going to fly away with it until, what felt like a moment of knowing, it looked around saw me and dropped it before rain hit down hard and flew off. I know to some of you it’s silly to seem like it had a conscious human psychic moment but still that’s what it felt like.  On a side note I know that the earth is healing because when you go out and the air smells fresher than before due to less carbon emissions from our vehicles and you come home and clear out all that stuff in your sinuses from sitting inside with stale air then you know things are changing, physically changing for the better. I haven’t had such clear sinuses in a long while. 

I can only hope that all of you are taking this time to reflect on your actions and slow down and to see that things are changing for the better.  As always, there is hope and no one is alone in this. Take care friends !