Isolation and Fear
I haven't necessarily felt the need to post anything spiritually profound but I do feel the need to post something.
For the last few days I have been feeling very sluggish. I procrastinate getting out of bed. I procrastinate, knowing I have more painting to do and I feel generally unmotivated to do anything.
I am not what you would call an outgoing person. I am pretty much an introvert in all the ways one can be. I am a stay at home type of person. So in the beginning, this directive didn't bother me at all.
I could get my kitchen done without worrying about anything I had to do outside of my home. We weren't having to go to church so I didn't have to prepare a lesson so I felt in a way, free. I had no other obligations except those I placed upon myself.
I love doing sacrament at home and I am beginning to feel like I could do church like this forever but I know that's not the case. I know that we need that interaction with our brothers and sisters to help strengthen each other and really church is the most social I am.
I don't fear this virus but as the time in isolation begins to lengthen and more and more of our freedoms are being etched away, what I really fear is that our freedoms will not be restored every whit whole after this passes.
We have been following this directive and I do believe there is a time and place for something like this. What if, though, what if they have to implement something more drastic? What is to stop them, meaning those in power, knowing they can easily control people, from keeping that power OR only restoring a few freedoms?
When I was in cosmetology school we had a few guest speakers from time to time. One guest speaker was someone from Africa an adult now was kidnapped as a child by a rebel militant group and forced to be a soldier. This group, I believe were hiding out in the Congo, had the African people living in fear, not knowing when their villages were going to be attacked. When I asked him how many were a part of this "army" the answer astounded me. I can't remember the exact number but it was small. Small in comparison to the many people they were able to attack.
How was this accomplished? Fear.
We've begun watching the new Star Trek series Picard. One of my favorite lines from Picard is this:
"Fear is an incompetent teacher". That it is.
There is so much misinformation out there being regurgitated all over social media and even the regular media concerning this virus.
The measures we are to take haven't changed since this all started:
Avoid close contact
Stay home if you’re sick
Cover coughs and sneezes
Wear a facemask if you are sick
Clean and disinfect surfaces
Somehow, however, this has translated to stay at home, don't go anywhere, hoard anything and everything, people unable to pay their bills because they can't work, etc.
Why? Fear.
