The Ground Can Shift, Roots Keep Me In Place
Earthquakes that shake the ground underfoot, will be held in place by roots of life.
This time last year I was watching the news reports of a virus creating mayhem in the Chinese province of Wuhan. I remember the growing sense of unease as their numbers grew each day along with the deaths and demand on their medical system.
One day, I read a report of the Chinese having built a hospital in a week — a week — to care for those with the virus. I was astounded at the speed they had moved and then remembered, it’s a country with over a billion people and the ability to order people where they wanted them.
Starting to Wonder If It Was Going To Spread
My mind started to wonder where this was going to go. In particular, was it going to be something that would be contained there or would this be the worldwide pandemic that scientists had been warning for years was due to happen? I found myself feeling anxious, a sense of foreboding. I tried to dismiss it as overactive imagination.
At that point, any news stories about it were not in a prominent spot in the reporting. I’d been coming across the reports because I read a range of news sources from around the world. That was soon going to change and quickly.
The Earthquake Builds Momentum
As I watched the reports of the movement of the virus out of China and into other parts of the world, I started to get a sense of an earthquake spreading out around the world. Not aftershocks, more the actual quake pulsing and building momentum. Building enough power to shift the ground around me on this side of the world.
It erupted here at 10 on the Richter scale in mid-March 2020.
Within days public health officials shifted from downplaying the presence of the virus, now named COVID-19, to implementing a large scale lockdown. Fear and uncertainty was palpable across the country.
Images of deserted city centers and empty highways where people and traffic congestion had so recently been were stunning. To look at them without the knowledge of the pandemic, it would appear something had destroyed the world without damaging any structures. The images lent a dystopian sense to the shifting ground. A sense of a world suddenly deserted and empty without the wide-spread damage one would expect from a life altering catastrophe.
Swift declarations of states of emergency across the country suddenly put millions out of work, schools, daycares, community centers, all but the most essential businesses closed. People going to places still open had to line up for hours and learn new concepts, like social distancing.
Dawning Awareness of the Personal Impact
As information came out about the virus and those most vulnerable, I came to the realization, I would be at high risk for a poor outcome if exposed. Thankfully, I also have friends and neighbours willing to help. My home is my safe space and is kept that way with their support. Contactless deliveries have been the norm along with electronic connect with others.
They are the roots holding the shifting ground in place. At times if I become unsettled and express that to a close friend, he starts our conversation with “You’re safe”. Another branch of the root, steadying the ground
Look around, who are the roots helping to hold your ground in place?
Are you a root for others?
Together we can keep the ground in place until this virus loses it’s ability to harm.
Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms.
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I remember that lead up, hearing the stories in China... and the slow news as it was found here and there outside Asia.
Next thing I knew, a huge biotech conference, here in my town (Boston) was rife with news of the virus spreading... and then, that week, mid March,2020...
I was working on a huge, worldwide employee meeting for a tech company. we had dozens of download sites, and here outside Boston, we had an abandoned warehouse set up a s a TV studio, with seating for a live audience.
After Monday's set up, we talked over possibilities.. including postponing, or changing the format. By Tuesday morning, we were talking with the Global CEO, and trying to decide, after only 15 minutes, the audience was cancelled, and changed to Senior level Execs only, of about 100. By the end of rehearsals Tuesday, even that was cut to only those speaking would be present. During the actual broadcast and show, my phone lit up with Text after Text, as an entire spring quarter's worth of events and jobs disappeared. By the end of work, on March 13th, almost all of my work for spring and summer 2020 was gone.
I wouldn't find out until a month or so, but that would turn into all of 2020, and, as of now, most of 2021. The events late winter/early spring 2020 were some of the first superspreader events. Our industry, Special Events, and the Arts, were one of the first shut down.
I am hearing from clients, and former colleagues, that the hope is that Early Winter 2021, but more likely 2022 will be when we can expect work again.
It's ok, I have a few rolls of toilet paper, and some frozen chicken, and moldy fruit... hopefully, my family and I will not need to eat until 2022.
that had to be heart wrenching to see those events falling like dominos so quickly. Theatre and Special Events are two areas very lacking in support and help. It's good to know you have some T-paper and frozen chicken. Keep the moldy fruit to make yeast if you have some flour left. OH and my friend.. you are safe.