It will probably not come as a surprise to anyone, but I have stressed a lot about writing any posts about this pandemic situation. I have composed so many things in my head and never actually typed them. Mentally deleted them if you will. There are simply too many things and too many ways to offend people. But I think the time has come, at least for me, that my words have to come out, and if someone is offended by them, so be it.
We are living in an unusual time. A historic time. And obviously history is often not fun or pretty. We end up finding the shiny parts, and sometimes turning a blind eye to some of the messier parts (a whole OTHER thing going on right now), and I wonder how this time will look 50 years from now. Will we have Pandemic recipes like we have Depression era pie recipes? Will we tell our great grandchildren how we "suffered"? The reality is that for most people, the pandemic has resulted in many things that have been uncomfortable, but they have not suffered. Not in a true sense of the word. Worried, yes. Stressed, absolutely. But suffered, not so much.
I do not in any way mean to discount people who have been ill, and of course those who have lost their lives. I am aware that this illness can be deadly. My mil is a nurse, believe me, I know. I've had friends who have lost family members (not Covid related) who have not been able to have a "normal" funeral service. I've seen on the internet where some people were extremely upset about not being able to attend a prenatal checkup with their person. All upsetting, for sure. But I think that with the perspective of time, we will see that these things are not as critical to our lives as they seem right now. During previous epidemics when hundreds of thousands of people died, funerals were not even held. People were buried in mass graves. We are so much farther ahead than we realize sometimes.
Social media can be both the best and worst things in a time of crisis. We can get up to the minute information, and make informed decisions. But if the effort is not taken to make sure the info is from a reliable source, that decision may not have been for the best. And every move you make is up for criticism and debate depending on how much you post, tweet, and blog. (Yes, I am aware of the irony here.) There will always be someone to tell you how right you are, or how wrong you are, and sometimes both at the same time.
So. My point. Everything is always changing. What is a disaster today will be history tomorrow. Our perspectives will change, our stories will change. The world is fluid, and things like politics, equality, the pandemic, social justice, and religion will always be debated. My personal goal is to try to extend grace in the conversations.
The above is solely MY opinion. 'Cause it's my blog. Get your own and you can say what YOU want. ((Wink))
