Meditation on COVID-19

This week, the World Health Organization declared that an outbreak of COVID-19, a coronavirus, had reached pandemic proportions.  In Dallas, local health officials declared a disaster and a public health emergency.  Large gatherings were banned and events, large and small, were cancelled.  Churches cancelled services.  There was a rush to buy hygiene products, cold remedies, all sorts of pantry staples and toilet paper.  People were encouraged to wash their hands often and practice “social distancing” to protect themselves from an infection.  These are days filled with unusual news and challenges to routines.

I struggle with how best to respond.  Do I hoard disinfectants and toilet paper? Do I despair because the economy has very suddenly become soft and cause for despair?  How do I find comfort when dinners with friends are being canceled and we are encouraged to distance ourselves from one another?

These could be lonely times.

I have little to offer in this time of uncertainty, but I know that I take comfort in making art.  This Mail Art Project is my effort to capture the moment and document the circumstance.  We are vulnerable to a virus with unknown powers and asked to distance ourselves from one another.  Yet there is beauty in the world and wonder all around us.  Making art and creating this Mail Art Project brings me unexpected joy in this moment that could otherwise be filled with panic and despair.  It is a meditation on what it means to live in this moment.

May we know comfort and find connection in these days filled with uncertainty and a call to physically distance ourselves from one another.