Dear friends,
It’s been a long, weird week. I have lost my sense of time. The good news is that I am feeling somewhat better and now have a negative antigen test so that I don’t have to hunker down alone.
It has been a good week for contemplating time and space. The Webb telescope has provided images of thousands of galaxies from billions of years ago.
Look at images from the most powerful telescope ever and get some perspective.
Among my many idiosyncrasies is a profound technological aversion that kept me from getting a cell phone until 2018 and from independent streaming until Monday. It’s pretty comic, so go ahead and laugh.
This week, I binge-watched all four seasons of The Good Place, which was perfect company for what one friend called the existential crisis that occurs when you have Covid.
The show is about what happens in the afterlife and provides a very funny dip into moral philosophy. The main character is someone who gets into the good place, but knows she doesn’t belong and then tries to be a better person. This is like the plot of my entire life.
In season three or four, a minor character gets into the good place by turning away from crime and devoting himself to his day job as a caregiver.
Let your state representatives know that a living wage for care workers is essential. This ready-made action is from NY Caring Majority.
Call on the Senate to make moves to address the child care crisis. This ready-made action is from the Coalition on Human Needs.
Among the things I managed to read while I was resting was this wonderful article that confirmed my feelings about the importance of checking on our friends.
Marisa Franco, a psychologist, explains that people significantly underestimate how much it means to others when we check in. We tend to second-guess our impulse to initiate contact, worrying that we will interrupt or burden our friends.
People may also hold themselves back because of a similar phenomenon known as the “beautiful mess effect,” which suggests that when we are vulnerable with others, we worry we will be judged harshly. That kind of negativity bias tends to run through all aspects of friendship, Dr. Franco said, and can have a tangible impact on how we behave and interact.
My friends have been exceedingly kind while Covid unraveled me.
Here’s some good reading on staying well:
Voting is good for us. (I knew it)!
Skittles are toxic, as you may have suspected.
You really need to mask indoors. And it’s probably wise to avoid Staten Island altogether.
I used to joke with my students that I am bullet-proof (because I hate bullet points). It turns out, however, that I’m just a regular human who needs to rest when I’m sick. Anyone who pretends otherwise is foolish; long Covid is real.
And because none of us is bulletproof:
Sign this petition from Moms Rising calling for a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
I hope to be back at work next week, but we’ll just have to see.
with love,
L