today is 13 february 2021 (lockdown 3.0, day 40), it’s 9.30pm.
my granma called me today (the one in belgium) and all 23 minutes of our conversation were spent talking about covid - well, more like me trying to interject one or two things and her just getting carried away telling me what she thinks is iffy about the situation. she made a lot of great points and i don’t really know what is going on over there - not enough to make an informed comment anyway - but certain things just set my teeth on edge.
take for example the ‘it’s just mild cases for most people so the measures taken are an exaggeration and cause harm’ argument. there’s no disputing that the social distancing causes mental health problems and that people who lost their jobs need more support, but i don’t think the ‘it’s just mild’ or ‘it’s just the flu’ holds water. why would every economy shoot themselves in the foot like that if it was ‘just the flu’? unfortunately i try to limit my exposure to covid-related news, so i don’t have enough solid knowledge to effectively dismantle those arguments.
this conversation just reiterated that covid is a hot and thorny subject and that we’re all ready to jump at each other’s throats over differences of opinion. it makes sense though: differences of opinion often reveal what kinds of sources we trust, and that in turn can reveal a lot about someone’s worldview. nowadays, worldview isn’t really a theoretical thing, it’s the state of the country we’re in, the world, affecting us directly and making us stay inside. it all feels very tender.
anyway, this chat made me angry and irritated, and hope next time we don’t mention covid at all.
this is part of a daily practice i’m encouraging myself to do for the duration of the third UK lockdown. i’m taking some time to note where i am each day, letting myself sit with what comes up without judgement or pressure. feel free to join in!
here is yesterday’s post.
