I hesitated to publish this blog post, and it has been in draft form since April 10th (2020). Enough already. I've had my fill of news about the virus this morning and now will vent about it then get on with my "non virus news" day.
This is a blog dedicated to inspiration. Maybe you wouldn't think so from the title.
Wait for it. It's coming.
The photo above is one that I created some years ago from a perspective of inspiration. Our life is and has been a journey. Have we enjoyed the path? Are we enjoying it now? Or are we "toast"?
In the face of a global pandemic that might end our life, are we being "empowered warriors" or ostriches with our head in the sand? Are we in denial or facing a reality check? It is normal to have mixed feelings about this. Anger, compassion, gratitude, frustration, anxiety, sadness, and a full range of emotions.
As one who tries to live and focus on inspiration and gratitude, it is a challenge to be in that vibe all the time.
To the Baby Boomers: "We're Toast"
is the title of a Boston Globe opinion piece published April 13 by Rachel Cohen
The subtitle :
"COVID-19 is now that mythical ice floe on which elders might be called upon to set sail into the sunset" pretty much nails the theme on the head. Maybe this is our last dance, and we can both grieve about it and celebrate it at the same time.
In the article, the Governor of Massachusetts is quoted - "It's hard to believe we're in a period where hospitals might have to make difficult decisions about how to distribute resources like ventilators, but that's the worst-case scenario, and we must plan for it."
The article goes on with "If that doesn't scare baby boomers into giving up that trip to the grocery store just because you've run out of chips and onion dip, nothing will.
There is a scoring system to determine if someone gets a ventilator: If two people are tied in the score, then this is the justification for who gets it :
"The ethical justification for using the life cycle principle as a tiebreaker is that it is a valuable goal to give individuals equal opportunity to pass through the stages of life — childhood, young adulthood, middle age, and old age," the protocol states."
(reference Boston Globe -
Being suddenly expendable because of age is not easy to swallow, especially without warning. We (baby boomers) retired thinking that we can finally enjoy some years without working, or reduced working, and then we are faced with the possibility of less than a year to live. Of course, this is only a possibility that we might get the virus, be hospitalized, then denied a ventilator because of ethical justification.
So What?
So as we are in isolation with everyone else who are not baby boomers, we can entertain ourselves, keep busy, take time for reflection, chase away the fear, the anxiety, the stress, the sense of foreboding doom, and whatever else. If watching the news makes you happy, go for it. Need to update the will? Write your obituary? Make those final arrangement plans? Write in a journal? Work on a quilt? Play online games like Words with Friends? Write a blog post?
Where's the inspiration, if any? How can we be a "warrior" in this when we might feel powerless? Can we be empowered, or are we feeling like a victim?
Wait for it. It's coming.
If this is our last dance, how are we going to dance? Slow, maybe like Tai Chi, to be peaceful and calm, or like salsa with passion in our veins? Or both?
We may have seen the question "If you had six months to live, what would you do?" We might ask that same question now. And then go ahead and do it, if possible, in isolation. It becomes a virtual bucket list. Virtual travel to Italy, France, St Petersburg or Morocco? Climb Mt. Everest? Armchair surf 50 ft waves?Take those fantastic virtual tours of cities, landscapes, travel blogs, and virtual museum tours. Love Nature? Watch BBC Nature or National Geographic on YouTube and and have a visual feast. Study a foreign language? Read classic novels? Watch music performances ?
Maybe write a book on gratitude and use some experiences in your life to fill in all those chapters. I am actually finishing up a book on gratitude that I started about a year ago, before this pandemic. At some point, I thought that this book could also be part memoir, and now I am thinking maybe part obituary. Of course, this is only a possibility. The book title is Gratitude and Inspiration. The original subtitle was A Journey of Loving Life. I changed it to In the Midst of a Pandemic.
So What?
We can live as warriors and affirm life with a powerful attitude of inspiration and gratitude. We can eat healthily - both will boost our immune system. We may need to live like hermits for a while. Enjoy the journey. If you resist, it makes it much harder.
So what am I doing besides some web business, binging on Netflix, visiting Facebook, communicating with friends and family, reading novels, and listening to music? I am writing about this. I have the inspiration to try to inspire others amid this crisis. Some recent titles and links :
Deep Peace - Traditional Gaelic Blessing
Dark Clouds and the Beauty of Nature
In the Midst of Crisis - Gratitude for a Divine Spirit
It was Just an Afternoon Meditation
Corona Virus - Where's the Inspiration ? (March 16)
So, the title of this blog post - "Baby Boomers Are We Toast?" - applies to everyone, not just boomers, except for the protocol in the hospital for ventilator selection. We are all in this together. Our life, as we knew it might be toast. At least for a few years, maybe more, maybe indefinitely.
Government control of our lives seems to be justified to some extent with the health crisis. Yet will it extend beyond that to everything else?
If so, then maybe we all are toast.
Initially, that was the last sentence of this blog. Yet I'm not going to end there. There is a postscript, an afterthought, and an epilogue. I add this last bit of thought from another blog listed above (In the Midst of Crisis).
"And if it is our time to move to the other side, there is plenty of work to be done there also with tribes unknown and yet to be revealed. We do not need to have a fear of death as death is an illusion on the soul level. If you believe that the soul goes on, then life goes on with it. At this time, it is a possibility that a million souls or more will move on to the other side of this pandemic. It is an earth-shattering tragedy if this happens on one level. On another, their souls will live on in new tribes and spiritual communities. Those that are left behind will be empowered to heal and rebuild again."
Wait for it. It is coming.
(This is a time for a dramatic spiritual revolution. A possible great awakening. I needed to add this here at the end, which is a new beginning)
