The glass you look through

In times of crisis, what we carry within us is revealed, especially our fears, and with them, we are terrible. Confronting our fears is not easy, especially the fear of death that violates our notion of "good" and "bad", making us paranoid, irrational, chaotic or cautious, but relaxed.

It also happens in the face of the possibility of "catching" the virus that has currently taken so many lives. The fear is not the virus as such or the disease it carries, it is more profound, it is the fear of death because the development of the disease it generates is highly risky for life. Hence, each person assumes behaviors that are in accordance with their conceptions, beliefs, and lifestyles.

It is always interesting to observe how different we are and seek to understand our reactions in borderline situations. That is why this week's reflective challenge is so revealing, because not only will some behaviors be seen in the spotlight in the face of this covid19 pandemic that has been ravaging the world for months, but the observer's perspective will also be exposed because, once again, in life everything depends on the glass you look through.

This time, @eco-alex leads us through a thin line that separates how one faces all the paraphernalia that living or surviving with the threat of a deadly virus has created and how we see others in the same struggle with their own resources, controls, and dramas, referring to it as such:

We haven't talked about the dreaded virus for a long time now.. Its been nice.. I’m in Portugal and here things are quite relaxed.. the main rule seems to be to wear a mask in shops.. And no huge parties.. but small ones are OK.. Its still quite strange in a way, but it's quite OK really, and most of my friends hug each other when we meet without thinking about it. The other day I bumped into a Brazilian couple.., I say bumped, they kept their distance and had very large and impressive looking masks on. All I could see was their eyes, and they looked very scared and afraid... poor couple! God only knows what brought them here, or what information they have to base their feelings on. Sometimes knowing nothing is bliss, and sometimes it leaves you in fear. The truth can be empowering, and I think that those that hug have chosen to make up their own story, rather than just listen to popular common opinion.

So this week the point is.... Are you a hugger or a shrugger?

And I insist, it all depends on which glass you look at it with, because everyone will have arguments to defend their point.

Particularly, I'm a hugger. I love to feel the beautiful energy that flows in the encounters with the people I care about and I don't show distrust or fear of contact because I don't feel it, I don't feel the pressure of reason that forces distance. For me, the fear of contagion is not more important than the feeling of giving and receiving love.

However, this does not mean that my attitude is better than that of those who create a security bubble around them. No, my attitude has to do with appreciating the small details that have to do with the encounter, with emotion rather than with reason. Perhaps, because it is one thing to mention the devil and quite another to have him appear before us. I suppose that if the web of contagion is close to my space, as it is at the moment, my attitude will be different, not only for my safety but also for that of my family. It's one thing to risk yourself because you're not paranoid, but it's another to risk others when evil is very close and knocks on the front and side doors.

I believe that the recommendations should be taken into account without panicking because this condition imposed by the pandemic is not short, we must learn to live with it for a while. This changed our lives and, according to the experience we are having, also our inner selves, our way of seeing and living life. The world changed and little by little we are understanding it.

We don't know for sure how much damage it will cause to our species, uncertainty looms over the future, since we cannot see the light in the tunnel we walk through today, we go blindly trying not to fall into panic, trying to maintain a healthy attachment to life instead of an indomitable fear of death.

We have to weather this storm armed with love, courage and, faith. There is no evil that will last a hundred years and nobody can resist it. Let us pray for those who suffer the scourges of this storm and also so that calamity does not reach our homes or destroy our affections. We cannot shrug our shoulders, the threat is real, but neither can we be driven by fear. Maintaining the balance is fundamental.