It was the early days of the pandemic when I got sick.
Fortunately, I hadn’t caught COVID (that I know of) but I was definitely sick.
I was tired too. Sick and tired!
I was sick of the divisiveness that had taken on a life of it’s own. I was tired of reading or hearing about a hoax virus while people were dying. And then there was George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and all the others before them being killed as a result of another virus that has infected millions of Americans since before the founding of the country.
The first remedy was taking the Facebook app off my phone. The second remedy was to turn off all FB notifications so I would not get the annoying emails and pings. The third remedy was to turn off Instagram notifications and the fourth remedy was to avoid people as much as possible.
This was only a stop gap measure. Crazy soon found it’s way into our family group chats.
Everyone was trying to make sense of what was going on and if you were not careful, it could have easily felt like the world was coming to an end. Obviously for some people, their world did come to an end as those of us still alive grasped for any certainty we could find as uncertainty ruled the land.
I had 7 teammates in Zuhai China who arrived just before Wuhan was shut down and the world began to understand the true scale of what was happening. They were there to fulfill a 1 year contract to perform in a 6000 seat state of the art theater inside of a popular theme park which was visited by millions every year.
The shows were canceled, initially for a week, then 2 weeks, then a month, then the rumors and uncertainty blurred everything.
Two of them came home while flights were still available. Three others finally arrived on US soil mid August while the remaining two made choices to stay.
Once those three made it home, I breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew even more.
If there were a sick note that needed to be written to life as I knew it, it would have read something like this:
Dear life as I once knew it, I will not be coming in today or tomorrow or the next day. While on leave, I will nourish and hydrate, I will exercise and take care of my dogs. Any challenges or opportunities meant for me may be given to those whom you deem fit to receive them. Do not call, email or reach out on social media - your messages will go unread. Thank you for understanding my need to recalibrate. I’m not sure I will ever see you again. I am entering an emotional cocoon and I’m expecting new life when I return. I hope some parts of you will survive the journey like your compassion and your empathy and your hopefulness.