Comfort in the Chaos | Coronavirus Wakes the World

One of the most soothing ways to cope with chaos is to find your roots. Yesterday’s sunset over the Pacific was a beautiful experience- a reminder that life goes on and that the world is so, so, so much bigger than the chaos of our modern society. In times like these, that sort of inner peace and perspective-shifting reminder can save lives. Don’t underestimate the importance of meditating and reconnecting through chaos. Be a force of peace- that’s a choice you can make. Keep this in mind as you see the empty grocery store shelves in photos down below.
Those existed at the same time as this beautiful, peaceful sunset took place. It’s all real- the calm and the chaos. What will you do with it?

I never saw myself writing a post like this one- but then, we all knew 2020 wasn’t going to disappoint with massive shifts, awakenings, and transformations on both inner and universal levels, right?

I’m writing this on March 15th, 2020
and last night was the most harrowing grocery shopping experience of my life.

No, seriously. I felt above all this panic until I saw these empty grocery shelves. It was more nerve-wracking than having cystic fibrosis and a compromised immune system in a particularly nasty flu season! Coronavirus (COVID-19) is taking the world by storm, and while I tried not to feed into the hype and the panic, I also understand how scary health struggles can be. To see something invisible creating such a devastating impact so quickly, of course we’re all a little on edge.

Take a look at my eerie grocery experience from last night.

I wasn’t feeling the panic, but it was surreal. I worried about all the seniors in this community who can barely get groceries as it is. Who’s helping them right now? Who’s going to help them next week? And also, we’re down to two rolls of toilet paper and there’s no toilet paper in town- so now this tp-stocking craze isn’t quite so funny. I wanna be able to wipe next week, folks. Share please?!

You can tell the schools are closed- mac n’ cheese is totally sold out. | Fred Meyer in Florence, Oregon 3/14/2020

At least the vegetarians won’t starve. The only meat left was plant-based, and I got the very last bag of frozen broccoli, peaches, and pineapple. The rest of the frozen fruits and vegetables were completely sold out. | Fred Meyer in Florence, Oregon 3/14/2020

This was when it got spooky. No milk. Behind me was the empty toilet paper and dog food aisle. | Fred Meyer in Florence, Oregon 3/14/2020

Even the above-it-all eye-rollers (which I kinda was, last week, to be honest. Living with a chronic illness, infection control is just a way of life for me. I figured I’m as much at risk as ever, so why increase my panic? Just keep drinkin’ water, keeping a safe 6 foot distance from people, washing my hands appropriately, and consuming those nutrients that keep a body going strong. Nothin’ to it, right?)… Anyway- even those who are calm and steady in the face of hysteria are starting to feel shaken realizing the severity of the situation.

Surreal feels aside,
I want to share a little comfort and inspiration in this chaotic time.

Not to be blind to the seriousness of the situation or to feed into the panic and chaos, but to help reflect what this experience has done for me. It’s been a connecting, inspiring, and touching way to experience life.

It also made my heart hurt a little as so many of the tragedies and challenges I’ve read about in history books suddenly came to life. I realized today that we are living in a time that will make it into history books, medical text books, and sociology case studies for decades to come. It all felt real, and I was touched by the devastation generations ahead of me in life have lived through. No wonder people are afraid, cynical, distanced, closed-off to the world… They’ve seen some real tragedy.

But this epidemic? Today, in 2020?
It’s been a little bit beautiful to see the way people respond, honestly.

It made me proud of the world we live in, proud of my generation. Proud of the way we’ve collectively shifted in consciousness to a state of caring and generosity. Maybe it’s not perfect, but it’s progress and I’m grateful and proud to be a part of it.

Influencers, authors, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and everyday people are all coming together to stand tall and provide leadership, a voice of reason and compassion through the chaos. People from Italy in the heart of devastation are sending urgent-yet-grounded messages to those in the United States to prepare, show compassion, take care of their communities and themselves. We’re all stepping up and taking a little personal responsibility for our part in preventing the spread of this infection.

Already, I can feel the world banding together to help one another through the recovery of this massive event.

We’re preparing for a tough economy, we’re expecting some serious long-term implications for small businesses (especially in the tiny little tourist town I live in, where businesses are expected to take a massive hit due to the lack of travel taking place this year).

We can feed different types of thoughts in times like these.

I think it’s important to choose the thoughts that come from an intentional place.

Yes, it’s scary.

Yes, it could be really bad.

Yeah, maybe it’s overblown. (Or, maybe it’s true that people aren’t taking it seriously enough.)

Yes, people are dying. (Yes, other diseases around the world are taking even more lives and that’s horrible too.)

I’m not saying to be ignorant, arrogant, apathetic, or blind.

But? Be open to the good, too. Don’t torture yourself.

People are coming together. We have so many amazing tools, we have big hearts, and we live in a world today so strongly connected that we each have the tools right at our fingertips to make someone else’s suffering a little less heavy to carry. We also have the ability to talk with anyone, anywhere. Governments are urging citizens to plan for at least 8 weeks of isolation, and yet we can see our mother’s faces from different countries thanks to our internet access. We can hear our sister’s voices over the phone. We can see our beloved communities online. We can support each other through blog posts, videos, hashtags on Instagram. We can inspire connection and growth. It’s through the toughest times that we find out who we truly are- and who our friends are too (like I was saying just last week. Full circle, wow.)

Take a moment right now to check in with yourself.

Where are you, panic-wise?

Where are your loved ones?

Knowing this virus panic can’t go on forever, and in a few weeks it’ll seem like some crazy distant dream, and in a few months you’ll have all but forgotten it… what intention do you want to set now, today? How do you want to experience this historical epidemic?

Who do you want to be for yourself, your family, your community, and the world during this time?

Breathe. Know who you are. Be that person, stand tall. Keep going.

It’s going to be okay.

Sending you loving and calm thoughts from my little edge of the world.

Vera Lee Bird