As the 4th of July comes around it looks as though social-distancing measures to mitigate risks of contracting COVID-19 are likely to be with us for a while. Although Marie Curie said “the way of progress is neither swift nor easy,” there are ways that we can all still let freedom ring on Independence Day.
We can begin by making a conscious choice for Freedom from Fear. Individuals certainly have differing views of the degrees of statistical risk.
I have been one who has taken precautions which (to some) might seem extreme. My reasons include the reality that I live with someone who is considered to be at higher risk. He is over 70 (and so am I), but he has a diagnosis of diabetes and high blood pressure. He is also currently on steroid therapy due to a diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) — likely triggered by mold exposure in our home last year.
Wearing a mask is one thing I can easily do. “Unsure About Actually Wearing a Mask?” addresses a lot of questions. According to Aaron Hamilton, M.D., “A cloth mask will not prevent you from breathing in respiratory droplets that carry a virus, like COVID-19. But it will help to protect others from you if you happen to be infected, with or without symptoms. Furthermore, cloth masks help to reinforce social distancing and good cough etiquette, which ultimately will help to slow how far the virus spreads.”
I have been intentional to be creative (and sometimes comical) about the masks I wear.
A friend was kind enough to tell me that Gucci got into big trouble for a similar look with their blackface sweater design. I admit that knowledge, along with recent heightened sensitivity to the history of cultural racism, has dampened the innocent joy I had making this one from a sock. I have chosen to exercise Freedom from Guilt.
I do have an actual N-95 mask (purchased last year during the discovery of mold infestation first at the office, then here at the house), but the material of it is a serious irritant to my skin. This second no-sew mask is cut from the sleeve of a comfy cotton shirt, and it is tied with a simple cord. I like that it is two layers and it holds up my long hair (I was overdue for a hair cut in March when we began sheltering-in-place while still in Florida), and I can choose to coordinate colors.
My kids really hate this one. The base is made out of a sock, and the image was printed in black and white and colored with crayons. I did not realize it looks like the Joker, so apologies to Jack Nicolson. Freedom from embarrassment, freedom from shame, freedom from sadness, and freedom to choose how you feel and what you do is really key.
SCS/NLP has at it’s core, transformational tools for noticing the differences and similarities within everything. We have preferred sensory systems, if you see what I mean. While one person looks around him/ or herself to decide what is appropriate, others want to make his or her own choice based solely on self. Notice how freedom is intrinsic in both of these behavioral tendencies.
“The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss is excellent for discussing issues of mask-wearers and nonmask-wearers. In the story, the Star-Bellied Sneetches are really rude to the Plain-Bellied Sneetches, just because of the simple stars on their bellies. But with freedom comes responsibility. I have the freedom to choose to wear a mask. I also have the responsibility to not think I am better than someone who does not. Even the Plain-Bellied Sneetches begin to treat one another disrespectfully when some of them had stars put upon thars (their bellies,that is) to fit in!
As we navigate this Pandemic of 2020, we are afforded the freedom to question the absurdity of all of our prejudices.
One freedom worth cultivating is the freedom from being a Monday-Morning Quarterback. Lots of learning curve is happening. Daily we know more than we knew before. Looking back with the information we have now, it is clear things could have been done differently. But…. when the choice of today was being made yesterday, we did not see anything as clearly as we will see everything tomorrow.
Tom Brokaw may have said it best. “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.”
Underneath each mask is a face without one, and everyone has a reason for doing it the way he or she is doing it. I love how Dr. Seuss drew freedom into the conclusion of the story:
“The Sneetches got really quite smart on that day. The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches. And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether they had one, or not, upon thars.”
Let freedom ring! Let that freedom ring once and for all so we can all be kind, to the masked and the unmasked among us….