Welcome to the Mess

 

Covid Bubble

“What a mess! And rather than pretending it’s not a mess, and being far from community or your people, whoever those people are, community is actually opening up and saying, what a mess, and welcome to this mess, and I want to be in this mess with you.”
Priya Parker (The Art of Gathering; interview with Krista Tippett, On Being)

          We had a little bit of an argument Monday night while I was presenting Liminal Time and Thin Places to a Jungian group. I said that the internet, and our obsession with technology in general, is giving us a false sense of community and further damaging our relationship to the earth. Two other people spoke of all the friends and family they “talk to” on social media, and how easy it is to stay in touch even visually on Zoom and Facetime and other such platforms. "You can google anything, go anyplace virtually, and increase your knowledge exponentially." All that is true, but in my worldview it’s a poor substitute for face-to-face, in-person, breathe-the-same-air contact.

          I am grateful that we’ve had this means of communicating during the pandemic, for sure. If we hadn’t had at least this modicum of human contact, many more of us would not have made it. But, again, it’s a poor substitute. And it’s subject to every sort of manipulation by bad actors who want to create chaos and conflict. It’s a cesspool of misinformation and false “facts.” Case in point, someone posted recently that the vaccines are made from the blood of aborted babies! Now that may seem absurd to you, because it is, in fact, absurd, but there are people who will believe it and pass it on through social media, and other people who will believe it simply because it came from their Facebook friend.

          The pandemic has created a mess everywhere we look—from our vaccine reluctance to the supply chain malfunction. We must still choose carefully who we take into our “Covid Bubble” because our lives may depend on it. We can look at pictures of pretty places on the internet and be entertained for a while, but to receive the healing energy of the universe, and of this planet, we must actually be in contact with it in a literal way—a way that engages all of our senses.

          I am grateful for the internet and for you who read this blog even though you don’t know me. And I am deeply grateful for family and friends who warm my heart, encourage me when I’m down, turn me in the right direction when I’m off course, and love me despite my many flaws. We cannot, however, confuse one for the other—the virtual for the real.

          I’m glad you are in my Covid bubble. Welcome to the mess!

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane