The joy of rediscovery

Here we are in the twelfth month of a global pandemic and all of a sudden all the inconveniences it has imposed on us over nearly a year do not seem nearly as daunting. It could be due to the fact that more people are receiving Covid-19 vaccines than are becoming infected with the virus. It could also be due to the fact that we Americans now have a seasoned public servant at our nation’s helm and he has or is in the process of installing a real federal government with permanent and not “acting” department heads. It could also be due to the fact that so many of us are demanding a return to at least a part of our old sense of normal. As we absorb the feeling that we are about to turn the corner on the worst and most deadly pandemic of our lifetime, we can stop, catch our breath and review what we’ve lost and what we may have gained over most of the past year.

The year of Covid-19 will be remembered as a watershed event for many. I would venture to speculate that most of us have been left with the feeling that we have forfeited a year of our lives, which in reality we have in the wake of a much curtailed sense of normality. Even still, the recommended measures to lower the risk of being infected by a potentially lethal pathogen were not that difficult to follow. It wasn’t as if we were asked by any scientific authority to assault a hot section of Omaha Beach or to raise the Stars & Stripes atop Mount Suribachi or defend the Chosin Reservoir or fly to the Moon and back in a high tech tin can. Both essential and non-essential persons were simply asked to practice social distancing, wear a simple face cover, wash our hands frequently and use hand sanitizer, stay at home unless leaving our quarters was absolutely necessary for work or essential needs, avoid congregating in groups, adapt to distance learning, work remotely and become familiar with how to use the Zoom program and app. Who last March would have ever dreamed all that would eventually become some sort of political statement? It is enough for many of us that now we at least appear to be moving beyond the politics of the crisis.

In the early months of the pandemic there were a few silver linings to the World, nation and community being for the most part closed. One such benefit was crime, particularly violent crime, took a downward trend. The one category that was the exception was domestic violence. According to my sources, violence between domestic partners and intimate partner abuse increased some 25%. A likely chief contributing factor to this aberrant spike is the increase in level of frustration and the unavailability of its usual outlets, that being the bars and nightclubs, the gym, limited travel options, and perhaps a heretofore sense of forced uncomfortable emotional as well as physical intimacy. Ah, there is that word, INTIMACY, probably the one thing we have lost during this pandemic that has done the most damage to our species aside from the threat of or actually being infected with the virus itself. I will vouch for the sentiment that we never truly appreciate something until it suddenly is not there. And what a day to be reminded of this particular deficiency and loss, Valentine’s Day 2021.

Here along the most Conservative stretch of Old Route 66, in addition to abiding by the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, we and much of the rest of the nation find ourselves in the firm grip of Old Man Winter as a winter storm is bearing down upon us. We are reeling from not only a rare imposition of snow and ice but also possibly record low temperatures. All this on such a day of desired togetherness has made us all more mindful of rediscovering the joy of the simple pleasures of this life. Pleasures such as moderate climate, easy travel, ample variety of pastime entertainment, dining, shopping and all the other things so many of us took for granted until all of a sudden they were not available. But more than that, especially on a day so remembered for going the extra mile to express our joy of caring for those emotionally closest to us, it is imperative that rediscovering the intimacy of each other be a priority in the quality of our most important relationships. This is especially critical for those of us who may be between important relationships to be able to identify and embrace that key dynamic of emotional intimacy which will connect with a kindred spirit. All this as we are finally able to see light at the end of the Covid tunnel and return to our norm of dictating our own destiny instead of being beholden to an uninvited third party dictating the terms of our future for us. Happy Valentine’s Day to all who are with the one you love and to those still looking for that one special person. And as Stephen Stills so artfully sang back in the year, “If you can’t be with one you love, Honey, love the one you’re with!” Here’s to rediscovering the most precious things that bind us to this life.

Love the One You’re With