For reasons other than being sick with a flu-like predator, I stayed home today. Maybe I am not feeling well from a cold, or perhaps, it is a stress that has worn me down. There are a lot of personal moving parts that I have learned to listen to. Self-care. Sorting it out, or attempting to. I keep coming back to other agents of attack outside of some bacteria or virus string. But when I open my browser or social media or phone headlines I am inundated with things that conflict, veer left of right or just seem to be noise in the system. I don’t know what is real and what is not. So while I pause for a moment from writing a book, I am going to try and think through some of this.
Everywhere I have turned, things are closing. The stock market is melting down, crude is at a low, stores are low on supplies as the world turns to doomsday hoarding (those people that are crazy – until they aren’t – so it would seem). Memes are shifting from the funny anecdotal virus jokes to serious fact spreading attempts. While scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed, a Doctor that I have respected for some time, was in a video that caught my eye.
So I stopped what I was doing and watched. Really watched. After watching, I looked at my newsfeed and thought of the same content inundating me under a different lens. Facts seem to be missing in a lot of the places and the fuel seems to be more of a hype than data-centric news tidbits.
Should everyone stay at home? Should we shut down everything? Why is this one subject getting the attention that other health concerns did not (do not)? And then, of course, there are the other real-world problems that won’t make the side column in a news publication. Having just listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, what was the trigger that made this particular event “tip” into a crisis that is changing how we do things. Well, as compared to other things that have happened, are still happening, or will happen and not even see a headline…
Since this is my blog, my voice, I will add the mix: because I can. We need to listen to credible sources of news. Listen to the professionals that are experts in the fields of study that we are concerned with. Fact check. You will not be able to escape the media, the click-bait, and other sources, and will need to develop a discipline to say “I hear you…” but follow that with “let me see what the facts say.” Yes, the virus is an issue. A real issue. People are dying and the virus is doing what it evolved to do: spread. In the context of life, what does that mean? Follow good hygiene practices, avoid social interactions, and listen to your gut. Panic is ok when it is a concern that contains a call to action. When it is aimless hysteria with no action it does not provide value. It only stirs the sediments in a barrel-making cloudy murky content unsearchable. We cannot just do nothing. Acting is an appropriate response. But what is the goal of the action? Filter the content as credible facts from subject matter experts, or opinion pieces and advertising from companies taking advantage of the airtime. Does the content have suggestions or is it exploiting reactions to things by sharing headlines that only evoke feelings?
I am not an expert. I will be listening for actionable advice from the people that know what we should be doing. I will do my part to ensure that I do not put anyone else at risk, as best I can. I urge you to pause, reflect, and come together as a world that is looking out for ourselves and then other’s well being.
Have a good weekend. As always – warm wishes.
joe
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