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CH 8: Health protocols making me smirk
While the numbers of cases and deaths were mounting, even something as basic as wearing a mask, your first health protocol, became a matter of politics. With communications proliferating every day through digital platforms and social media, the physical act of putting a lid on your mouths contained powerful as well as symbolic messages on filtering and carefully using both the air you inhale and words you utter.
You saw how unfiltered messages can lay siege to the heart of the world’s oldest democracy; when words become a tool for exploitation of human ignorance and fallacies, they can be more dangerous than me. You also saw how mindful messages delivered at the right time can save lives. While you were suffering, the stupidity and complexity of politics were apparent — an outcome of the ignorant and incompetent leaders that you at times choose.
Your second health protocol, washing hands, may have protected you by disinfecting me. However, even the strictest hygiene standards can’t protect you from the people who need to wash their souls more than they need to wash their hands. When I see people behaving ignorantly and arrogantly because they have not gotten their thoughts and acts together, I am bewildered by their irresponsible words and acts. Particularly, when it is more about making political scores than saving lives. When hundreds of millions suffer and millions die, yet one chooses to remain oblivious and behave as if it is not happening, they need to wash both their hearts and minds. Far more daunting than washing me away is washing away misguided beliefs and false perceptions which are much stickier and more costly than I am.
While I forced social distancing, your third health protocol, I was pleasantly surprised to see the many instances in which you came together emotionally. From the music you played to the neighborhood from your separate balconies to the songs you sang in chorus virtually, from various parts of the world, the strength of human connectivity was astounding. From the poem written by a child to the money raised by a war veteran, from communities coming together in support of those in need to small acts of individual kindness that made a positive difference to many, I was awed to see the strength of human bonds defy social boundaries, national borders, and geographical distance. Innate human connection through compassion and empathy proved to be more powerful than the safety that resulted when I made you distance socially.
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