Editor,
We’re in this together – the COVID cocoon. Wrapped inside of this metaphorical cocoon we struggle in our respective tight spaces hoping to emerge soon. But with the passage of time, it seems that our cocoon has gotten tighter, more restrictive. When will we break free? When will this pandemic really be over?
The optimist says “soon” since the vaccine should give us herd immunity. The pessimist says “it’s here to stay”, forever confining us to life in a cocoon where hand sanitizers, masks and isolation reign supreme. Then there are others who refuse to be inside a cocoon, thus spreading not free will but the dreaded COVID-19.
As a realist, I believe there are truths hidden in all points of view. We must take a proactive role in our own personal health; we must not succumb to fear; and we must continue to be educated on what this pandemic is and what it is not. Eleven months into this deadly virus, there are still too many mixed messages bombarding us.
So as the world struggles with the best way to corral COVID and its mutant viruses, we have a choice as to what we do inside our own cocoon. We can succumb to unhealthy indulgences and come out worn down not only from the uncertainty of COVID, but from stress and poor choices or, like a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon, we can experience our own uplifting personal metamorphosis.
Positive transformation, even now, is possible. We’re in this together.
Susanne McAlister Spitzberg, Carmel