Counting the blessings
Although age and existing health problems make me extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, and despite the fact that I am suffering from some of the psychological effects of prolonged isolation (anxiety and paranoia among them), I have come to a greater appreciation of a number of blessings that I will no longer take for granted.
I have a wonderful family and some good friends, a comfortable home to live in, a good diet, help at hand from several caring doctors, food and pharmaceutical outlets that provide quick and efficient services, a large collection of classical, jazz and blues albums to listen to, the History Channel and Knowledge Network on our cable service, and a beautiful, gentle dog who has become more spoiled than usual because we are home all the time.
And I have worked hard to be creatively active enough during each day that I can honestly say that boredom has not yet become one of the negative consequences of our isolation.
Although I think about the possibility of having to spend my final years trying to cope with whatever the “new normal” might turn out to be, I have, over the last two months, learned many worthwhile lessons about sufficiency living, the value of self-discovery, the importance of community, and being thankful and humble given the fact that I have so many enriching and supportive things in my life than far too many other people in the world do not.
I can only hope that many others in our society learn the same lessons from this crisis.