I was in Miami, waiting for a plane to land on a sunny day outside a four-bay mechanic’s garage until a gang of modern pirate-like militia came in shooting long guns and wielding machetes. I woke up, thought
#classicpandemicnightmare, and then went downstairs to scroll Twitter. Sad (the Twitter part), but terrifyingly real.
And 2020’s version of March Madness is equal parts all of that. Sad. Terrifying. Real. Not nearly enough sugar to coat this state of affairs.
But there have been some great family moments, too. Two brothers making a light bulb-like discovery that they can actually enjoy one another’s company for many, many minutes.
Also, this happened: Dad and the boys settled in after dinner to watch “The Day After Tomorrow”. After ten minutes of being introduced to Mayanism and the film’s plot of the earth’s core melting leading to tectonic plate shifting (I know, Best Pandemic Parent of The Year Award goes to…), the nine-year-old, asked “Wait, is this The Day After Tomorrow?” GenX me, who had searched and found the movie on Netflix assured him, “Yes”. Well, here’s a hint for you all – when you search for “The Day After Tomorrow” don’t press play on the movie “2012” which comes up as “Titles Related to The Day After Tomorrow”. After the three of us became aware of this (err, as the credits rolled) I got to revel in the nine-year-old explode in a milk-through-the-nose, whole body two-minute giggle. “DAD, WE WATCHED THE WRONG MOVIE!!”
So what to do? Two thoughts for you. First, in Tom Friedman’s “Thank You For Being Late” (yes, I’m quite sure I’m referring to the correct book, thank you very much), he says we are in a new age of unprecedented accelerations (technology, globalization, and climate).
In this age, Friedman asserts, you may want (crave?!) to stand still or even go back to a simpler, less rapidly changing time. There was a time when static stability (think of the four-legged stability of a table) could be had. It’s just not possible to keep up with the technological and societal change in that mode. The only stability available to us now is dynamic stability – the stability that comes from moving forward like when you are riding a bike.
How does this relate to the stress of the moment? I feel the least bad when I am not standing still (scrolling Twitter, refreshing nyt.com every five minutes, worrying about the kids, the future, my 201k). I feel best when I am DOING SOMETHING (working productively, walking, writing, trying to keep up with Emma Lovewell). In other words, if you want stability, KEEP PEDALING! Keep moving forward, regardless.
The second thought is, and this is a 4:30 am thought – I think the only way I can get through this is just to decide to be OVERWHELMINGLY EFFING OPTIMISTIC. Not head in the sand…just OFO. Because, what’s the downside of that and what good does it to be in any other mode?
An early HBD to the spectacular KSC 🙂 and an ocean of gratitude and admiration for so many on the front lines. OFO, Dan
