Small things become big joys during the coronavirus crisis

With so many people suffering because of the coronavirus, it's natural to feel anxious, unhappy, even depressed. But I'm finding that the isolation and altered routine caused by Oregon having a Stay Home, Save Lives order has some bright spots.

Sure, I no longer can go to Tai Chi classes. Nor can I go to our athletic club. Meeting a friend at a coffee house is a no-no. I still go grocery shopping once a week, but wear a mask and gloves. The dog park we used to enjoy is closed. 

So much is different now. Along with many millions of other people, I've been cast out of the activities that were so familiar to me, I took them for granted. Now that they're gone, I realize how precious they were.

But like a handful of flowers blooming in a otherwise stark desert, other things in my daily life now stand out, because the mental backdrop that used to be filled to overflowing with busyness -- time to go here, then there, and after that, another here-and-there --  has become a largely blank canvas against which small things are showcased.

A few examples...

-- Standing in the checkout line at a store where I'd perused the completely empty shelves where toilet paper once was stacked high, I noticed a bundle of toilet paper in the cart of the woman in front of me. Ah, Seventh Generation, I said to myself. That would be in the organic/health food section of the store.

And so it was, on a bottom shelf, a place where most shoppers wouldn't think to look for toilet paper. Returning to the checkout line, the cashier said, "Ah, I see you found the secret place." "Yes," I told her, "but we must speak softly to keep the secret." Returning home with the precious toilet paper, I felt as proud as if I'd killed a saber-toothed tiger and brought it back to the cave. 

-- When I'm out and about on an essential trip to a grocery store or pharmacy, I enjoy driving to the Starbucks nearest to where we live. I can't see how many cars are in the drive-through lane until I turn into the Starbucks parking lot, which now, of course, has few cars, since coffee houses and restaurants are limited to takeout only. 

Sometimes so many cars are in line, I feel it isn't worth it to join the queue, especially if I have cold or frozen groceries in the car. But when I enter the parking lot and see only a few vehicles in the drive-through lane, a burst of happiness explodes in my brain. When I hold up the Starbucks app on my iPhone for the barista to scan the bar code that pays for my Grande Decaf Nonfat Vanilla Latte, I enjoy the brief encounter with a coffee house amployee that I used to take for granted.

-- My wife walks our Husky mix, Mooka, in the morning. I walk her in the late afternoon. This has become the most important item on my otherwise mostly empty calendar. Sometimes my wife says, "I can walk Mooka if you don't feel like it." "Oh, I sure do feel like it," I tell her. "This is a high point of my day." Even though pre-coronavirus, I have to admit that sometimes it felt like an unwelcome chore.

We live in the country, about five miles from town. There's a two mile loop on curvy roads that Mooka and I go on every day. It has some fairly steep hills, ups and downs, so the loop is a good alternative to the elliptical trainer that I used to use at our athletic club three days a week, while I watched one of the televisions. Now I watch real life, 3-D life.

Today a neighbor was herding her goats down the road to another neighbor's home, apparently to have them munch in their pasture. Mooka was transfixed by the sight. She's a curious dog. This was her first sight of goats on a road. It was a special moment for dog and human. Not a big thing, just a small thing that created considerable joy for both a canine and a Homo sapiens. 

Comments

[manjit]

Nice post.

I've just read this 20 page essay - I think it's probably the most insightful & thought provoking article I've read on the current situation. Well worth the read imo:

https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/the-coronation/

And as I'm here, a short NY Times piece on why conspiracy theories are flourishing at the moment:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/world/europe/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories.html

[Jesse]

Such a nice article by Brian that I ruined by being dumb enough to read manjit's NYT link. My god, that was vapid.

The author investigates literally nothing and adds "falsely claims" and "conspiracy" after each item on his list of things which weren't investigated. To top it off he gets some crappy psychologist to tell stories with similarly inadequate amounts of evidence but never writes "without evidence" after any of their tall tales. To fully complete the buzzfeed level report, he predictably cites China and Russia first as conspiracy prone as if those two countries are uniquely dishonest and BAD.

"A cacophony arising from armchair epidemiologists" aka the heads of epidemiology departments at Ivy League universities. That article was cursed garbage on every level.

How was that considered useful or good? Who would read that who isn't stupid and not be insulted? Doesn't anyone remember when NYT was good? I do. That article says nothing more than "trust the government."

Post better things next time. There's no way I'm reading 20 pages of what you think is enlightening if you thought that wasn't the worst thing you've ever read.

Glad you're able to see something positive while the whole world is beginning to resemble communist Romania, Brian.

[Jesse]

Brian, do you still skateboard? I decided to order a skateboard the other day and it's been the best thing to do during this lockdown mess.

[Jen from Austin Texas]

Dare I say I actually am enjoying this slow, quiet and simple pace of life. That’s not to take away from the fact that I feel for all those that are suffering and my heart goes out to them. But I also believe that everything we go through is a result of our own doing. To quote newton
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”
So Coronavirus is also another reaction and those of us who are get affected are the ones who are meant to.

[Dungeness]

@ So Coronavirus is also another reaction and those of us who are get affected
@ are the ones who are meant to.

I agree but, while true on a deeper mystical level, it lends itself
perfectly to the manipulation and fatalism of cults. This is an
apt example to the passiveness and rigidity of expression that
happens there.

Yep, "Don't question the Baba, Ayattolah, Elder Brother. He knows
best. Accept your fate, serve the cult's chosen few. It's your own
karma. Don't question... that only means you've failed to learn."

It doesn't have to be some other cunning, exploitive cult member
inflicting it either. In immaturity and credulity we put the blinders
on ourself.

[j]

Thank Gaia we have money and don't have to work for a living, and with a few mouse clicks we can order goodies from that wonderful Jeff Bezos and have the little people bring to our home. Not sure what all the fuss is about. That awful growth economy and rampant consumerism have finally been shut down, and all is well.

[Jen from Austin Texas]

Dungarees when I mean those that are being affected I don’t only mean the ones that get it but also the ones who are mentally affected by everything this illness is causing. And by the way ‘those that are affected” could very well be Me too.

[Dungeness]

@ I mean those that are being affected I don’t only mean the ones that get it but
@ also the ones who are mentally affected by everything this illness is causing. And
@ by the way ‘those that are affected” could very well be Me too.

Yes, thank you, I undestand your point. But those words, when reinforced
by your "I also believe that everything we go through is a result of our own
doing." also dovetail perfectly with fatalism and manipulation. Particularly
that of cults.

It's the same whether it's the spring-breaker who says "If I get it, I get it. It
ain't gonna stop me from partying" or an RSSB goon who is ready to
break arms to enforce a cellphone ban. The former is stupidly fatalistic
and the latter is brainwashed that he/she is doing "God's work".

[Sonia]

Dare I say I actually am enjoying this slow, quiet and simple pace of life. That’s not to take away from the fact that I feel for all those that are suffering and my heart goes out to them. But I also believe that everything we go through is a result of our own doing. To quote newton
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”
So Coronavirus is also another reaction and those of us who are get affected are the ones who are meant to.

Posted by: Jen from Austin Texas | April 09, 2020 at 10:22 AM

Yep. I agree I am getting used to the slower pace and starting to really like it.

Getting corona virus is like getting cancer or malaria or arthritis or losing your job or losing a loved one. Shit happens and no one in this world can escape suffering. We all suffer. We experience joy as well... especially when you learn to appreciate the small things in life.