Nattaproblem

One way to send shock waves throughout the world is to espouse the fear of death. Humans stop at nothing to protect their lives and rightly so. Historically, pandemics arose due to cholera, flu, plague and HIV/AIDS. There is nothing as dramatically effective at making people stop and think about their existence as when there’s a global disease that is insidiously eliminating life as we speak.

The first course of action upon hearing of the incendiary rhetoric on the news is to duck, cover and hide. As we’ve seen over the past several months, staying behind closed doors and limiting social contact has had some effect in decreasing the numbers of new infections, but eventually people will have to emerge from their catacombs and continue to push the global economy forward.

Sitting and staring, waiting on the time

Writing schedules for the day

Allowing outside voices to quiet mine

Ambition takes over my desire

Start, begin, go…

But the dishes are dirty so I wash

The laundry isn’t done

Checking social media accounts

Staring outside at the sun

Time has caught up

Yet I wait for another minute

Because it’s something that never ends

There’s more. “Later,” I say. It’s okay.

I wake the next day and repeat.

Is this okay? Action through the art of inaction.

If time can move, so must I.

NOW. It’s time to get up.

This impromptu poem I created is the nemesis of the modern day civilian. People around the world have frozen their lives for over 3 months to “stay safe.” Although health and safety are paramount concerns for people, its their behavior that determines their survival and ultimately their success.

During a global crisis that effects everybody’s health, it makes sense to look at the statistics and scientific evidence to decipher patterns that effect the rates of transmission. The virus started in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, and began spreading throughout the world in February of 2020. The transmission rates in European countries and the Americas soared. Meanwhile, Asian countries were keeping low numbers and applying technological cell-phone tracking systems to document each and every case of COVID-19.

Why the difference? Two words: FACE MASK. The United States and much of Europe are very proud and self-sufficient nations. The concept of covering the nose and mouth with a medical mask similar to nurses and doctors who practice medicine on the hospital floor seemed unnecessary and bothersome. It wasn’t util recently when the majority of the US population began realizing the correlation between Asia’s low numbers and their face mask-wearing culture.

Face masks have been worn for at least a decade and can be found in any convenience story, grocery or supply store. Countries like Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and others all supplied the public with easy access to face masks. Perhaps it was due to the Asian Flue, Bird Flue and numerous other coronavirus’ that led up to the point. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Asia was inadvertently prepared. People have already formed habits to wear face masks; on the subway, on the buses, in the markets, even within schools and college campuses. The increasing air pollution from Chinese factories made the environment so uninhabitable at times the air quality apps even suggested: “face masks recommended.”

Asians have been known to showcase Jascha Heifetz-like discipline when tasked with a lifestyle or behavior change such as wearing a face mask. When the majority of the American population adopts such discipline, the numbers will go down. Until then, we wait inside and hope.

While inside, make a daily schedule, read, write, paint, draw, partake in the daily activities that weren’t previously afforded to you due to the hour-long commute to and from work As stated at the end of my poem, NOW is the time to reinvent ourselves. I know I certainly have and in the most ironic way, it’s more refreshing than a visit to the beach and dipping my toes in the water. I’m actually getting things done. I encourage all of you to do the same. I know I’m a long way off from fluency in the language I’ve undertaken, but as Sir Winston Churchill said, “success is not permanent, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue counts.”

Ciao for now. I hope you all stay healthy and busy.