Love in the time of Cholera

If you are walking around with your chest tight or your stomach in knots, that isn't surprising. Thursday was the first day of Spring and it feels like the world's gone crazy.

Thank you for sharing this gorgeous collage, Rachel Urquhart www.ponygoldstudio.com

In NYC, Karachi and LA, the city is on lockdown. Every business - apart from grocery stores, pharmacies and hospitals - is closed. People are working from home and have been told to "shelter in place" - not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. People with kids feel like they are bouncing off the walls. I've spoken to teachers and they hate the idea that their students are now going to have even MORE screen time.

No one knows how long it will last. Two weeks? 6 months? Will you get sick? Will someone you love get sick? What IS this virus? How can washing my hands possibly be enough?

The first day of spring is New Year's day in Iran (the second worst hit country after China), it's called Norouz or Nowruz.

It's a celebration of the earth's return to life. Of the light returning, of the flow of energy increasing. It might feel hard to celebrate when you are not allowed to meet friends or go to group events or - in some cases, if you are quarantined in a place without a private outdoor space - even go outside.

Instead, we are only wondering how long we are going to live like this.

On instagram, I keep posting anti-viral home remedies, but many people get angry saying these "magic potions" will not help us and will make us sick. There was one theory that our exposure to 5G has so taxed our bodies that people without resilience to electromagnetic shifts were either catching or creating the virus in their bodies. That also made a lot of people angry.

There are a lot of factors impacting our health. We need to examine all of them. There are a lot of things that can make us healthier. We need to think about them too.

Let me clarify - yes, wash your hands, isolate for enough time for them to see if it impacts infections, don't think that ginger and turmeric will allow you to go to parties (and even if it protects you from showing symptoms, it might cause others to become ill). Wash your clothes and sheets. Do NOT take massive doses of turmeric, ginger, oil of oregano OR acetaminophen or off-label pharmaceuticals. Too much of anything can be hard on your organs.

But also - take time to breathe. Walk in nature. Be kind to others - animals, people, plants - no matter who they are and where they come from. Nature is recalibrating us. Let's figure out how to work with where we are now. Practice being patient in uncomfortable situations. Practice disagreeing with someone without taking it personally. Remember that there is enough. There is always enough. Ask for help when you need it. You are supported. You are loved.

Please don't smoke.

All of those things are actually proven to strengthen your immune system

If you are having trouble managing the collective panic. Try short meditations. If you have difficulty sitting still for 15 or 20 minutes, try a guided one.

I've recorded one here with help from Jackson Nazario, a young musician and sound engineer:

Feel free to download it and share it.

The silver lining? The air is cleaner, the water is clearer. Kids are drawing on the sidewalk with chalk and hanging pictures of rainbows all over the neighborhood.

Jackson's got a song to make you feel better too.

Be well, my friends.