A Real List of Crazy, Weird and one or two Bushy Eyebrows

I feel like the internet isn't as useful as it used to be.  Now when you search for something in google it feels like you get only the most recently talked about things and it's hard to find anything else.

The other day I tried looking up something related to Hercules and all I could find was stuff related to some new game.  I don't care if it's the best mobile game ever created.  If I look up Hercules and I can't even get one search result including a Wikipedia page for Hercules, let alone one including his legendary adventures and labors, something has gone horribly wrong. 

To illustrate my point even more clearly I will use a random search I was performing today.  I remember seeing an older actor who had these crazy bushy eyebrows.

And the search words "british actor with crazy eyebrows" brought me Will Poulter.  I grant you, he has distinctive eyebrows but I would not call them crazy. 

This list of famous eyebrows was disappointing, only a few of them were even interesting.

https://www.gq.com/gallery/19-eyebrows-as-famous-as-the-men-who-own-them

And then there was this list of "insane" eyebrows.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls070780793/

If your article has a list of 21 names claiming to be insane, is it too much to ask for at least one of them to be interesting?  I thought not.

 You ask which actor has the most insane eyebrows?

And then you suggest that normal looking male actors belong on that list.  Nicholas Cage, Joan Crawford, Colin Farrell, Lee Pace.  Come on!  Well, I say you're crazy.  Nobody on your list has crazy eyebrows. 

When you say insane eyebrows I expect more of the following:

Photo from this article

Granted there are not his normal eyebrows, he's made up for Dune.  This is Freddie Jones by the way.  But if you say insane eyebrows I want pictures like this.  Not of Nicholas Cage with his normal eyebrows.  Or Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Jack Nicholson.  Come on!

I mean really, are you crazy?  If you say insane eyebrows and that's the list you give me, or Will Poulter, whose eyebrows are distinctive sure, but are nothing like what I'm looking for, are you doing your job as a search engine?

I say not.

Now let me show you what I think are "insane eyebrows", or at the very least weird eyebrows.  Not just normal eyebrows that happen to be slightly distinctive or slightly bushy.

Let me show you what I was looking for.  I couldn't remember this man's name, so I tried googling him.  I knew he was a British actor, with a round face and strange eyebrows.  

His name is David Hemmings by the way.  For more on him you can read this article or this one that that picture came from.  And yes these are his real eyebrows.

Looking very classy with his pointy bushy eyebrows. Photo via this article.

But if you search for British actor with a round face and strange eyebrows you get this:

This!  First of all most of these are models with perfect eyebrows, the non image search isn't any better.  But let's take a moment to appreciate how bad the search results for this are.  One of these guys definitely doesn't have strange eyebrows, he has Alopecia, he doesn't have ANY eyebrows.  This is not to say he's less interesting as a person, he just doesn't have the insane eyebrows I was looking for.  

Now look at the text search that Google offered for this. 

Anyway, I thought it was appallingly lacking in any of the things I was actually searching for.  

But let's get back to the issue.  There are some people with really strange eyebrows out there.  And since you can't find them through normal means, just searching for strange eyebrows, let me give you some of them.

Here is a picture of Denis Healey from an article about his politics to be found here.  

I personally think his eyebrows should have been on a list of interesting eyebrows.

Then there is Archbishop Rowan Williams:

Archbishop Rowan Williams

And then there's Bernard Ingram 

Bernard Ingram

This guy came up under big noses, but I think his eyebrows are more of a salient feature myself.  

I can't even find this man's name but here is where I found his image.

Then there's Brezhnev

From the BBC page here.

And then there's Robert Morley Allan Warren

This next guy is really more of an honourable mention, but he's still better than that list I showed you above.

And ok, ok, the list did have a few guys with legitimately bushy eyebrows.  But that was the best they could do, not really crazy.

They at least included Eugene Levy with his bushy eyebrows.

Bushy yes, crazy?  I wouldn't say so.

And last but not least, if I search for crazy eyebrows.

And if you're going to show me perfect female models when I search for crazy eyebrows, I expect them to at least look like this.

This came from the following article.

Is it the most important thing in the world, no?  But, when I look up random search terms I don't like getting endless perfect models no matter what I search.  I want some of them to be at least in the ballpark of what I'm looking for.  If I look for crazy, weird, strange, bushy eyebrows, I want them to be at least a little interesting to look at.  

And no, bushy eyebrows aren't important.  But I feel like I keep running into this whenever I try to search something.  The search engine seems geared towards whatever is newest and popular even if it's not a good fit for what I'm actually trying to look up.

It's infuriating.

And that is my rant about how I don't think one of the most helpful tools of modern life is helpful enough for me. I'm going to go do something more useful with my time now.

But in the meantime if you're looking for some photos of crazy eyebrows, as one occasionally does, I hope these help.

The Reason We Must Try Harder to Actually Communicate, Especially When We Are Different

I just read a thing by a dear friend of mine saying that "if you claim you're not a political person you are lying, you're apathetic and you're an ignorant asshole who is a part of the problem".

Now, let me start by saying that I agree, apathy and ignorance are not acceptable traits.  I think we should avoid ignorance and apathy and try as far as possible to stay informed and active in our communities.

But now, if you will allow me to speak my mind, I will disagree with some of her points.  If I tell you I'm "not a political person" what I'm saying is that I don't want to engage in the conversation you want to have.  You are not entitled to my opinions just because you want to have a conversation.  I'm not in any way required to share my opinions with you if the conversation you want to have is insulting, emotional, illogical and most importantly not an actual conversation.  If you want to talk fine, but don't yell at me if you want to rant and I don't feel inclined to listen to you.

I do usually tell people I'm "not a political person".  This is not because I'm ignorant, and it's not because I'm apathetic.  That's the opposite of reality.  I feel way too strongly about so many things that go on in the world.  I just choose not to voice them with people who open conversations with inflammatory remarks, whether or not I agree with their points.  I have no desire to be involved in a "conversation" that is actually a rant about how you are right and smart and good and everyone who disagrees with you is evil.  You might even be right, smart and good, and everyone who disagrees with you might be evil, but if you're just looking to rant about it, I don't want to be involved.

Now, I know what my friend is getting at.  There are a lot of people who cloak ignorance and apathy with the self-righteous mantle of being "not-political".  But it is not everyone.  Sometimes the people who are telling you they are "not-political" are just those of us trying not to get shouted at for something that isn't our fault.  I'm trying to be very broad because this is something that happens to me often over many issues.  I'll give a quick example.  I had a cousin, who didn't like that I didn't share a political view of hers.  In a discussion when I stated my views, she said "educated people think the way I do."  I walked away, because it was clear that this wasn't going to be a conversation, it was going to turn into a place to say things we regretted.  That didn't mean I'm wasn't aware of the details (or the injustices) of this particular point.  Walking away didn't even mean that I wouldn't act on the issue.  It just meant "I don't want to talk to YOU about it anymore."

I am a very non vocal person about my political views and stances.  But it doesn't mean I don't vote, sign petitions, etc.  I resent being called an ignorant, apathetic, asshole because I won't engage in a heated, futile, exchange on social media.  Shouting electronically at someone you aren't even talking to in person does not actually accomplish anything.  It certainly isn't doing good.

I honestly think that posting inflammatory comments on social media only rouses more inflammatory remarks from both sides.  Angry words online have never made a situation better.  This is why I appreciate and respect people who don't just post their own rants in angry language in an attempt to make others angry.  (Or worse still, those who want to wound others verbally simply because they are angry and they can't handle the emotion without inflicting it on others.)  I appreciate it when people actually provide a way to help change whatever situation they feel needs changing.  I appreciate those that include links to petitions, or news about what is on ballots, or how and where to join a rally etc.  Actionable advice.

Of course this is a fine line.  Sometimes just sharing the information is what is necessary for the situation.  Sometimes the situation is that people aren't aware of the injustices going on and broader segments of the population need to understand that there are, in fact, injustices.  In these cases it is important to share the facts, but your opinions aren't needed with them.  Truth can stand on its own two feet.  Calm, rational, logical facts are necessary and can change minds and cause action.

And Action is what is really, truly necessary!

Yes, sometimes writing about or telling other people about an injustice is the action required.  More often, voting, signing petitions, attending rallies, and PEACEFUL protests is required.  If you are talking to people who don't understand or see your side, it's going to be rough.  But what is required is one on one rational conversations to really attempt to understand the other side first and then and only then trying to explain the other side of that coin to them.

That's the hardest part, you have to actually try to understand why the other person believes what they say, what the core fears are that they are expressing to you in their negative beliefs.  They are usually emotional fears not based in facts.  You have to understand what fears they are expressing and that there is a kernel of truth buried under that emotion even if the trappings are irrational.  You have to listen to what they mean, not what they are saying if you're going to have any hope of persuading people.  People say and do things that make no sense when they are afraid and unaware of reality.

You see, no matter how angry and right you are, if you shout your views at someone it doesn't help.  What good does it do if you tell a close friend that they're ignorant because they don't agree with you?  Even if they are ignorant, will they be more willing to hear your side and arguments?  Does it help anybody if you say insulting things to people who don't agree with you?  Or to those who haven't yet learned all the facts about a situation yet?

Shouldn't ignorance be met with patient facts?  Don't yell at the ignorant, calmly educate them with reason.  And if you cannot, then walk away, but don't shout at them.  It solves nothing.

Shouldn't apathy be met with an appeal to humanity?  Not a shouting, insulting response that at the very best, has the likely result of helping to shovel extra sand onto the ostrich's buried head, and at worst of rousing resentful anger towards you and your entire cause.

Shouldn't wrong ideas be met with right ones?  Politely explaining the right things, not just addressing a wrong with another wrong.

Yes, as a student of history, I know all too well that peaceful protests do not always garner good results.  But we do not respect Gandhi because he got beat up once and then started a violent revolt.  We respect him because he and his followers took the high road and never once backed down.  Helping to awaken the sleeping to a new woke world is not a road for the feint of heart.  It is a long, lonely road filled with hardships and that is exactly why we must take it.  Because we must believe that eyes can open and minds can be changed.  We must believe that the future can be sculpted into something new and just and equal with perseverance and enough helping hands.

Shouldn't friends be able to politely, and yes firmly, disagree without devolving into insults?

However wrong they are, insulting the other side has never won any allies.  And when we are talking about systemic injustice, we need to enlist every person we can to our cause as an ally.  Alienating those willing to listen out of the heat of anger and a mean spirit, helps nobody, and brings no justice to those you claimed you were fighting for. (I'm speaking of those who shout at friends and create enemies out of them.)

Is there still room among the Woke for those who are just awakening?  Think long and hard about that before you answer, because if you do not believe so you are dooming us through a self-fulfilling prophecy to a world that cannot change, a world full of eyes that cannot open.  

Now, this is has all very vague, because I believe it applies to so very many political discussions, and disagreements I've personally experienced over the years.

However, if you'll permit, I'd like to be more specific at this juncture.

There are occasions where something must be said, and to as many people as possible.  Wrong is wrong.  And it must be demanded that justice is pursued for those wrongs.  The oppression of a person based on their skin color, gender, religion, ethnicity or national origin cannot be tolerated.  Abuse of power is wrong.  Murder is wrong.  Black lives MATTER.  ALL lives matter.  Every single life matters and we cannot stay silent when any lives are taken violently and publicly: especially those who belong to a minority that have been repeatedly marginalized by our society through long-lasting cycles of oppression, poverty and prejudice.  Until every life taken through violence receives the same justice we are not safe.  IF any person can decide who is worthy of justice we are none of us safe and free.  And we cannot stop fighting for equality and justice and safety and freedom until all of us have it.

We must pass laws that require fair and equal treatment of all people.  Yes.  But we must also gain public awareness AND support.  This must be done with patience, kindness, and the kind of perseverance that is willing to talk one on one with the people you don't agree with, and probably don't much respect.

I won't say anything else.  I've probably already said too much.  I'll simply show you what we need more of in this world.  We need more of the tough, patient, peaceable and persistent conversations that so rarely happen these days.

We need this kind of communication.




We need more of this kind of communication.  Because communication, real communication, tough, uncomfortable, patient and firm communication can change people and can change minds.  This one video of a Black Lives Matter protest at a Trump rally is proof of that.

May we all live to see better days.

Recreating Paintings in Quarantine

During the lockdown in southern California I have been keeping busy.  I'm doing some freelance writing, I'm reading, I'm cleaning and I'm doing art.

I'm doing all kinds of art.

I have begun painting, making dollhouse miniatures and most recently I've started recreating paintings with things from around the house.  This whole thing was started by The Getty Museum Challenge and you can find other fine recreations under the hashtags #gettymuseumchallenge and #betweenartandquarantine

For the first one depicted below I've recreated Tissot's painting, The Widower.

My Recreation and Tissot's The Widower

And that was so much fun that I decided I need to recreate a few more paintings.


So here is my recreation of Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare.

The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli and a recreation with Jojo the cat.

The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli












My recreation of The Nightmare - featuring my cat AKA Jojen aka JoJo

I didn't want my dogs to feel left out by all the fun that Cat and I were having so the next few recreations involve them.

This is Charles van den Eycken's painting titled "Willpower" 1891

My poor fools were so confused about what they could and couldn't eat after this they almost were reluctant to take the treats when I gave them to my boys by hand.

Next is the recreation of Briton Rivière's painting Requiescat from 1888.

Shadow snuffled my hand for treats the entire time we tried to do this photo.  Not smiling was almost harder than keeping his attention when he thought treats were a hopeless endeavor and tried to give up.

Next is a recreation of Compulsory Education, also painted by Briton Rivière.

Do not let Rocky's mournful eyes deceive you.  He was so excited by the treats that came out of this photoshoot that he happily traipsed over for more than one take.  

The next painting is untitled but commonly referred to as Knight Resting with Dog by Nicaise De Keyser

The amazing armour dress and leggings I'm wearing are from Lorica Clothing, the Sackville skater dress and the Sackville leggings. All of their products are amazing, if you have need of comfy armour dresses or leggings I advise you look for them at Lorica Clothing.

The next is a painting by Thomas Weaver and is titled The Dunearn Ox c.1812-1815

No, really though, why are so many portraits of cows so rectangular?  If you're interested in this particular phenomenon you may want to check out this article on rectangular cows in UK art. 

I thought my rabbit had a nice scale next to my "cow".  Doesn't Shadow make a fine cow? I thought so anyway.  So, I decided to take advantage of his lovely cowhide (tshirt situation) and take another pastoral photograph with Rocky too.

This one, Animals Resting in the Pasture is a painting by Paulus Potter

Aren't my cows fine? Don't I make an enviable farmer? I'm marriageable at the very least, if I'm not the envy of the county with such fine cows as these.  It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a fine herd of dogs, I mean cows, must be in want of a husband.  Or perhaps just an occupation.

Ok, so technically this next one is a woodcut not a painting.  But I think it still counts, it's very much a recreation.  

This is a woodcut by Hans Holbein the Younger called either the Chandler or The Peddler for the Dance of Death series c.1526.

and here is my recreation of it...

Extroverts Guide through Isolation – Get in Touch with Your Introvert Side

Advice on how to survive the quarantine written by an Introvert for her Extrovert Friends

Dear Extrovert,

My friend, first let me say that I know this is hard for you.  But I have some advice that might help you get through all the social isolation.

I feel that the key to surviving life in general is to not feel trapped by it.  So, as we are all forced to stay home and feeling a bit trapped, we have to find ways to liberate ourselves. 

Make staying in your choice.

The first step is to make staying in your choice.  Open your door, poke your head out and find a reason you don’t want to go outside after all.  Lean out your door, and before the sense of longing for the outside world can set in, tell yourself “I’d have to put on pants to go out, I think I’ll stay in today.”  Or perhaps it’s raining outside and really looks miserable.  Tell yourself that staying in with a cup of tea is the most preferable option. 

Now that we come to that Give Yourself Options.

Having options is one of the things we miss most about being stuck indoors against our will.  Find several occupations/projects/activities for yourself and then decide not to do some of them, this way you don’t feel you are doing any one thing because there are literally no other choices.  Sometimes coming up with really terrible chores is the best way forward.  I could work on scouring the entire bathroom, or I could watch this movie.  It might make you feel better. 

You may not be able to go out and see friends, but you can still connect with them.  Not only are there a variety of ways to video chat, you can also call or even write a letter.  Maybe it’s time to sit down and tell your friends how much they mean to you.  Find different ways to check in so you don’t feel like there’s no option and no way to be social.  Even for your video chats, have a dance party together, or have dinner together, or have an art class together.

Do Silly Things Without Fear of Judgement.

Turn up the music real loud and listen to that one song you love over and over again.  Or add a little humor to your normal mix and sing Staying Alive really loudly to yourself in your pajamas (they now pass for day wear).  Sing along at the top of your lungs even if you can’t sing. 

You can dance around your house in a combination of outfits you would never wear outside and feel free in the knowledge that nobody will see it or judge you.  Don’t be limited by comfort (though do indulge in that as well), wear everything neon or froofy you can find together.  Wear a ballgown to your own solo movie premiere.  Because, why shouldn’t you?  If you’re feeling bold you can send photos or videos to your friends and encourage them to do the same.

Escape the Here and Now

No really, there's a reason we all love to consume media, social or otherwise, it's the escapism.  

There’s a million ways to escape reality for a bit.  Try a few of them.  Read a book that’s got nothing to do with today or your normal daily life.  Watch a movie you’ve been meaning to get around to for ages.  

Join a silly online challenge, like wearing pillows as dresses for quarantine couture.  Or even join a silly facebook group such as “A group where we all pretend to be ants.”  Find something unusual you’ve never done and revel in the novelty of it from the comfort of your couch.  You can share it with all your friends online too.

Tons of places are offering new ways to be involved online.  Concerts and Broadway shows are being made available.  You can call up a friend and watch one together.  You could take an art class.  The other day I went to an art class via a Zoom meeting and did a paint along acrylic painting.

 

Start a Big Project (Or Finish One)

If you are at all like the rest of us, you probably have three major projects you’ve been meaning to do for the last 5-10 years and never have time for.  

Guess what?  Now is the time!

For my family it is hanging up fake tin wallpaper on our ceilings to look like a Victorian tin ceiling.  It’s going to take ages, but luckily, we have lots of time.  

There is time to take online classes to learn that language you always been wanting to learn.  You can start writing that novel you’ve always put off.  Learn knitting or finish a cross stitch.  

Finish any number of little projects that got shuffled into a corner with the advent of more pressing things.

Start painting more like you’ve been meaning to for years.  Start doing a journal or writing if you’ve been meaning to get around to that.

Find a Way to Be Helpful.

Last of all, find a way to give back to your community as you are kept safe by first responders and essential workers.  If you aren’t at risk, you could volunteer to drive for a local food bank or volunteer there in general.  You could bring groceries to neighbors.  If you are at risk, find other ways to be useful from home.  You could just be there as a listening ear for friends having a rough time.  You can get social time in and feel more connected while you help.  If you can sew and have fabric, make masks for neighbors and friends, or donate them to the local food bank or to first responders.

Keep in mind that you are doing your part, reminding yourself of this as you go crazy on your own feeling cooped up will help make it bearable.  You’re staying in precisely because YOU DO CARE about people.

Love,

Your Introvert Friend

P.S. If it all gets to be too much, it is still ok to run around your house crazily shouting for no reason.  Honestly, we will all understand.

Evidence Proves that Stay at Home IS WORKING!

The World is more connected than ever, so it's no surprise that as the Coronavirus spreads we are watching each other struggle, sicken, cry, and come together to fight the virus online.  We watch videos of New Yorkers meeting from their rooftops and balconies and Italians singing across their squares to each other.

We stay at home and the isolation is a burden to us.  We feel alone and we have no evidence that our efforts are working as we hear growing cases and death tolls on the evening news.  But it IS WORKING.  Staying home is working.

Kinsa Health has developed internet-connected thermometers through which they can track the growth rate of new fevers.  They can show you, days in advance of when the hospitals become overwhelmed by the new cases, just how fast or slow the fever rate is growing.  And Stay at Home is a success!  It's the best news we can possibly have.

We stay at home and wait fearfully thinking our efforts are not enough to save ourselves, our neighbors, our loved ones, our communities.  But it's not so.  The efforts are working.  Shutting schools, bars and restaurants has dropped the infection rate.  The growth rate of new fevers is dropping.  In San Diego County and even in LA where the concern was mounting ever faster, the growth of fever rates has dropped roughly 8%.

Health Weather Map - fevers plotted per county

Staying at home has not only stopped the growth rate it is dropping it!  We are making a difference.  We are saving lives.

Manhattan is a great example.  According to an article in the New York Times about the restrictions and fever rates, the fever readings are predicting the hospitalization rates faster than anyone else can make predictions.  This is because people start to get a fever days before they require hospital care.  And the CDC gets data from the hospital and doctors.  So these fever readings from the internet-connected Kinsa Health thermometers are giving us data two to three weeks before the CDC can.  This is huge.  In the same article the data from the thermometers has shown how fast the restrictions on people's movements can start making an impact:
"
For example, in Manhattan, reports of fevers steadily rose during early March, despite a declaration of emergency on March 7 and an order on March 12 that public gatherings be restricted to less than 500 people.

The turning point began on March 16, the day schools were closed. Bars and restaurants were closed the next day, and a stay-at-home order took effect on March 20. By March 23, new fevers in Manhattan were below their March 1 levels.

Last Friday, New York State’s own data showed the same trend that Kinsa’s fever readings had spotted five days earlier.

“People say these requirements — no restaurants, no nonessential workers — are burdensome,” he said. “And they are burdensome. But they are effective, and they are necessary. The evidence suggests that they have slowed our hospitalizations, and that is everything.”
"
- From the article in the New York Times Restrictions Are Slowing Coronavirus Infections, New Data Suggest

This is the most hopeful, and informative thing I've read in quite some time.

If you are feeling like your efforts aren't working, think again.  Evidence is being collected that our efforts are really making a difference.  We will make it through this.  Staying home started to curb the rate of infection in only three days in Manhattan.  We still have a long way to go, but we will get there.  Slowly, we will.  There is hope and with the evidence of the decline in new fevers with Stay at Home directives there is a lot more hope than before.

And if you are interested in watching the progress of new fevers declining with our Stay at Home orders, you can watch this Health Weather Map created by Kinsa Health.

Stay at Home.  Stay safe.  And keeping helping where you can.

Little Things that Surprise me Most during this Covid-19 Outbreak: Elastic Shortage and Pigeons

Everywhere you look the world has changed.  It almost feels weird when you find an aspect of your life that hasn't.  Almost nobody goes to work anymore, working from home and trying to find unique ways to do your job or keep up with your friends is now the norm.  Schools are doing distance learning.  People are cooped up indoors.  All over the world there are empty squares and streets.  And little things that nobody ever thought of are now big.  And somehow the big things we all worried about three weeks ago seem small.

My mother and I were both feeling a bit like we were useless trapped inside.  But now we are coordinating through the phone and email with a neighbor who runs a local food bank in need of masks.  Mom and I are now busily looking up patterns and sewing fabric masks to help volunteers hand out food to the people who need it.  The numbers showing up at this local food bank have swelled from 160 a day to 400.

People have lost jobs and income.  People are in need and frightened.  And we are all doing our best.  Making masks from home with scraps of fabric piled in the attic.  There is an elastic shortage.  We used all of ours and now there seems to be none anywhere.  People across the country trying to sew masks to help first-responders are using hair ties and headbands for elastic.  An elastic shortage.  I would never have guessed.

And it's the little things that keep surprising me.  I saw a post on Instagram of the pigeons in Spain flocking to the only person on the street.  Nobody is out so they have no food to scavenge.  I have never felt sorry for pigeons the way I did when I saw them desperately following this lone human, begging for food.

A small piece of my heart broke for them.  Not even the pigeons, a seeming constant in every city, are unaffected by the global pandemic that is bringing our world to a halt.

Everywhere I look I find another thing that surprises me about the way our world has changed.  It makes sense, the way that streets being empty brings the wild animals out into the cities.  But it doesn't make the world any less surprising as every day seems to bring tiny revelations of our newly altered world.

We are all doing our best.  Fashion houses in NYC as well as individuals with sewing machines are churning out masks.  We know they aren't as good as N95 and surgical masks, but they're all we have now.  And we are doing all we can.  The fact that everyone is coming together, online, through tutorials on YouTube and through Facebook's Covid-19 Support page Community Help is a bright ray of hope.

The news is now almost entirely fact driven informative pieces relaying the situation on the ground to those who need to know.  I don't see the judgemental and hateful partisan things I once did.  Legitimate problems, calls for aid, and the way that people are trying to lift one another up are in the news now.  And for the first time in years I read the news with hope.  Hope that I'll find real information.  Hope that I'll find answers to questions I have.  Hope that I'll see humanity fighting it's hardest to become better.  Because faced with a global crisis we are more than ever all connected even as we sit in our houses all alone.

Stay home.  Stay well.  Stay connected.  Continue hoping and helping.

Hope and Helpers in the Darkest Hours of Covid-19

It is hard sometimes when we live in such uncertain times to not find ourselves bogged down emotionally by the ever present threat of overwhelmingly bad news.  It is not possible to stay unaware of the threat, nor would it be wise to be totally ignorant of the coming dangers.  But how does one stay positive in such an environment?  As we watch with concern the risks our healthcare professionals are subjected to as they fight unprecedented hospitalization rates with dwindling supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and come to dread the daily death toll it is hard to keep from feeling anxious.

I am personally in a vulnerable category, or rather two of them.  At the moment my body is busy fighting off Lyme Disease, a battle I've been fighting for over a year now, and my immune system is already over taxed from that effort.  I am also someone with what I call weak lungs, I have asthma, and all my colds and illnesses attack my lungs and linger there far longer than other people's trifling colds.  All this makes me genuinely nervous about my ability to recover should I get Covid-19.  So, I stay home, limit my contact with the outside world and sanitize everything.  But sometimes I still stay up at night wondering about the future.

So, I've had to ban myself from reading news outside of occasionally checking on California's new measures to prevent spread and a few updates.  I can't read anything about the state of doctors, hospitals or anything else pertaining to our current health crisis at night or I won't sleep.

And I've had to implement this one very simple and seemingly effective rule.  Every time I see something that makes me worry I have to hunt down something about those people who are trying to help their fellow man through this crisis.  I can't prevent my inboxes from filling up with upsetting articles and news from concerned friends.  But I can deliberately hunt down information that restores my hope.

Mister Rogers, apparently learned from his mother to "look for the helpers" in every crisis.  If you haven't seen the new movie with Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers you should.  It's a perfect message for such days as these with darkness pouring into our world and everyone hiding indoors.  Whenever things get rough and scary, anywhere there are bad things happening, in the middle of the darkness, there you will find the helpers.  The doctors and nurses rushing in to help everyone even though they are exposing themselves.

Check out this article in the HuffPost for more on Mr. Rogers.

He advised talking about facts, not letting a child's imagination conjure up even scarier realities.  And that's a good message for those who descend into a news world designed to build hype and scare people into reading further and further with less and less information and facts.  Media often thrives on hype and emotion and facts fade away.  Don't let that become a part of your experience of this crisis.  We are stuck at home in some ways feeling very helpless in the face of a global pandemic.  While we are not all children, the feelings of helplessness and fear are universal and can be combated in much the same way you would soothe a child.  The difference being that you are soothing yourself, your own inner child.  Don't watch sensationalized news.  Remind yourself of the facts.  Tell yourself how you and all your family and neighbors are working to keep each other safe.  All look for those people who are helping in the crisis.  Focus on the hope and find ways to be a helper yourself.

Because the helpers can come in any form.  The helper can and should be you.  You may not be a doctor or nurse.  You may not be able to help in any way that you think is meaningful, but you can always do something.  The researchers at William and Mary pooled all their PPE and sent it to local hospitals to help keep doctors and nurses safe.  My mom is busily sewing fabric face masks that she'll drop on a neighbor's porch to use at the food bank.  The local food bank is overwhelmed with people who need their help, but the volunteers don't have any masks or gloves to use while they work handing out food to the public.

Two ladies who volunteer at the Old Poway Park (now closed for safety of the community) have sent round an email to all the other volunteers saying that if anyone needs help, or knows of anyone who does, they can contact the Poway Neighborhood Emergency Corps.  These two and a team of others from the community are willing to pick up groceries and run to the pharmacy for anyone who cannot, or does not wish to go out and get exposed.

And even if you can do none of those things, sharing your beauty and art with the world is enough.  The tenor Maurizio Marchini, quarantined in Firenze sang Nessun Dorma from his balcony.  And even if he can do nothing else, the fact that he shared his gorgeous voice and this song with the people who cared to listen it was enough.  All over Italy people are trying to bring joy to one another through little things.

The world is actually full of helpers.  And it is important to know the upsetting facts about the dangers we face so that we can respond appropriately by understanding what to do to keep everyone safe.  Learning about senior hours at the local grocery store and telling your elderly loved ones about it.  But as you look up the articles warning of danger also temper that understanding with hope.  Look for the helpers.  Find the hope in the darkness, where people rush in despite risks to their personal safety, where people try to bring each other joy during these hard times.

Find one good thing for every hard one you face.  If you worry about the death toll, cling to the numbers of those who have survived.  If you worry about the elderly, cling to the hope of the 101 year old Italian man who survived Corona.  If you are worried about the safety of your community, remind yourself that everywhere people are trying to help neighbors by staying home to limit infection, by making masks from scraps of fabric in the attic, and getting groceries and medicine for those who cannot risk going out.

Find how you can help make the world better.  

Don't give in to the fear and panic.  Find a way to help someone else through it all.  Be one of the helpers who gives in the fight against the global pandemic.  Maybe you can share you gifts from your balcony or through the internet.  Maybe staying home is your act of helping. 

Join us, and stand with us, as we do all do the one little thing we can to be kind, to be strong, and to survive.