The beauty of having a blog is being able to set the pace of output. In my case, that pace has been glacial. Several weeks were spent sewing face masks out of spare fabric, which then morphed into fashioning wallets, handbags, and shirts out of Liberty fabric (see photo), which to be fair were on sale through their website. Oh, the joys of receiving the famed purple boxes through DHL. Concurrently the kids and I embarked on an exploration of baked and fried flour, sugar, and butter that broadened not only the backside but other body parts too. Yum, though. Especially churros.

The list of reasons why I put off the writing was - and is - encyclopedic. I had to find the perfect calendar app first. I had to wait for an interview process to wrap up first. I had to prepare a list of topics first. Yadda yadda yadda. Even now as I write this, I think: Should I post this?

This is not a Deep Thought blog. (Is it ever?) I am going to take a leap of faith and assume that many of you are struggling with this mid-pandemic existence. I say existence because sometimes it doesn’t feel like life as we know it. Except it is very much LIFE compared to the vanishing of life in emergency rooms. I face the pandemic like most of you: one day at a time. I miss my parents and friends terribly and wonder when travel will resume to at least half of its previous pace. When you have homes in a few countries, travel is essential.

I read about other people’s lives to distract myself from mine.

This article from the Guardian, for example, about the decimation of indigenous leadership in Amazonia, is heartbreaking. The Yanomami have survived measles, flu, and media scrutiny in the 1990s thanks to Sting, but it’s unclear whether they will survive Covid-19. Indigenous communities not only have an innate right to remain as they are but they are also essential partners in helping us to fashion a more climate-resilient future. Their vulnerability reflects ours.

Resilience is an amazing thing, though, and it’s within us more than we realize. I love this story, also from the Guardian, about Kenyans continuing religious services despite the closing of places of worship. Innovation is as infectious as viruses! So is the human spirit. Build it and they will come.

#staysafe