Just say it

One of the negative side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the extension of the emergency situation to a long period of time. When a natural catastrophe strikes (fire, earthquake, flood) there is a short period of time where the damage happens and then the process stops and you do not have any new damage. You still have to recover, but there is a defined path, a number of things that need to be fixed before you can feel back to normal, and once a given aspect is fixed it stays fixed and does not go be to catastrophic conditions on its own. It is clear that the recovery takes a significantly bigger effort than "normal" life but the limited time frame of the recovery and the sense of progress are a great help in mustering the necessary strength.

Photo: ALEISF

The situation with the pandemic is different in three aspects: on the one hand, it is not very obvious if/how your efforts help the containment of the epidemic; then the social nature of the pandemic means that regardless of how hard you work for it, if the rest of the population do not cooperate all your efforts are moot; and finally, it is not clear how long this emergency situation is going to last, so it is hard to keep the "emergency-level response" for this long.

The result is that many people and the society at large have entered a state of numbness or hibernation, where the resources are spent most conservatively, focus on the day-to-day, waiting for the situation to improve. This hyper-focus also means that certain aspect of the normal life are neglected: consider the case of preventive medicine, all the regular check-ups and scheduled operations that are not taking place because the hospitals and medical practices are either saturated or, at least, regarded as "potentially dangerous places".

The natural conclusion of this state of hibernation is that the expression of our feelings is somewhat subdued. We spend more time at home and, not having the possibility to go out and spend time in other social circles, the damage potential of an eventual confrontation is very high, so we tend to hibernate our feelings too, mainly at home and but at work too.

This morning I found a love message on the screen of the shower. Karen went through the effort of writing it backwards from the outside (just like Leonardo da Vinci did), so that I would be able read it through the glass, and I found it very heartwarming. In these tense time we do not show appreciation for one another and that is a big loss. These spontaneous tokens of affection can brighten the day of your loved ones, so do not be shy and just say it. In written or in any other way that you are comfortable with, say it. Have a nice evening.