May first.
Friday, May 1st, 2020
Welcome to the first May I’ve lived through under a global pandemic. Well, that I’m aware of. How can you know for sure? How do you know from moment to moment what your viral load is, or whether that headache you’re plowing through is just from staring at a screen for hours as opposed to the interactions of a virus and your entire system?
Part of getting through all of this, for me, is becoming comfortable with the elements I can’t know, that I can’t monitor intensively, that I can’t adapt, trim, ramp up, ramp down, control. I guess that intersects with the fabled Serenity Prayer, but I’m not a prayer-fueled person, so I will just take the precepts and run with them. Interestingly enough, the author of the prayer composed the thing in 1932-1933, or, in other words, the Great Depression. As you’ll read if you dive into the Wikip link, it’s a popular mantra for those in 12-step programs, and apparently there is an early draft of it that begins “Father, give us courage to change what must be altered”, which is an important tool in anyone’s emotional toolbox.
After all, to quote Red Green‘s Possum Lodge prayer: “I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.”
Youall have a good weekend. And you Michigan men, please just back away from the legislature. Give it a month or two longer and then you can parade around with guns and camo all you want. You can protest Black Fly season!
