Wood Chips
From the shores of Lake Superior (The Third Coast)
No matter where you may be living in North America, including here in the Great Lakes Basin, we are learning not only to live with a dangerous health-threatening virus but also a social, conscious infection of mind and spirit. The latter is as dangerous as the former.
One example is the way that conversations about pandemics and COVID-19 seep in and take over the most personal and private of interactions. A colleague of mine, a community psychiatrist who is used to working with severely damaged and emotionally disturbed individuals suggests that, when its appropriate, we all need to “keep the room small” for such conversations. That means boundaries.
This may mean the coronavirus and health talk is not automatically assumed to be a part of how someone starts off each day. Or, if you’re sharing a personal story or moment of celebration with friends or family, it might mean focusing on the positive, not following up with recent health threatening updates.
Of course, conversations about COVID-19 will continue to dominate much of our public discourse in the weeks and months ahead. That’s exactly the problem. There is always a time and important place for such reflections. But there are also lives to be lived, songs to be sung, gardens to be nurtured, good dreams to be shared. Find that balance for yourself. Practice keeping “the room small” now and then. Do it gently, with sensitivity. It will make for a better, healthier summer for us all. At one point, the clouds of the pandemic will lift. Then we’ll all look around. And begin, in new ways, to build a new, common community together.
Jon Magnuson
The Cedar Tree Institute
“Wood Chips” is a series of brief reflections written by Jon Magnuson, Director of the Cedar Tree Institute.
