Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

Palo-Santo-Candles

Coronavirus as a Calling

Sep 30, 2020 09:30AM ● By Gregg Levoy
Staying Connected Virtually During the Pandemic

serejkakovalev/AdobeStock.com

Not to diminish the fact that we’re dealing with a serious and worldwide epidemiological threat, the pandemic can be transmuted into golden opportunities, especially if we follow the sometimes blind spiritual instinct that tells us this crisis—indeed each of our individual lives—has purpose and meaning, and that we need to act on this impulse despite the temptation to back down and run for cover. Here are four ways to respond to the call of these turbulent times:

Use it as a reset. For months, it has been impossible to conduct busyness-as-usual, and we may be left with unaccustomed time on our hands. But like the asteroid that ushered out the dinosaurs and gave the mammals underfoot a shot at prominence, once the thunder lizards of everyday busyness and distraction are sidelined, parts of us that are normally overshadowed may be given an entrance cue—not just projects we’ve back-burnered in deference to the daily grind, but deeper thoughts and feelings about our priorities, the status quo, work/life (im)balance or our inner life. The better part of valor and wisdom may lie in asking, “What can I learn here?” rather than, “How can I overcome this?”

Consider it a powerful meditation. Meditation teachers tell us that distractions aren’t obstacles, they are the meditation, so that we say to ourselves, “Ah, the dog-bark meditation,” or “Ah, the weed-whacker meditation.” The same with the coronavirus. Approach it not just as a distraction from our goals and how it can block our intentions, but as a vehicle of meditation itself: How do we feel, what wants to emerge and what do we truly know?

Appreciate it as connective tissue in society. We’re seeing firsthand how our individual actions can affect those around us, for better and for worse, and that we depend on one another for survival. Washing our hands and sheltering in place are acts of both self-care and community care. In the weeks following 9/11 when the fiction of our invulnerability was so shockingly revealed, many of us began holding doors open for strangers, spending more time with our kids, honking less and listening more. Life’s fragility, our fragility, woke us up to our need for each other. Now that social isolation is suddenly forced on us, it reminds us how precious those connections are.

Approach it as a reminder of mortality. The pandemic is a perfect opportunity to practice the fine and fearsome art of non-attachment, because life will ultimately ask us to surrender everything. “We all owe God a death,” Shakespeare wrote. We can use this time to clarify what’s important and how to best use our precious nick of time. When we strip ourselves of any illusions of immortality, we are thus free to live our lives to the fullest.


Gregg Levoy is the author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life and Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion, and a regular blogger for Psychology Today.
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Follow Us On Facebook