Weekly Roundup: December 11, 2020
Quote of the week:
“The pandemic has created a collective grief experience that we have not yet addressed as a nation (or as a world). I’m not sure we even have the right words to describe what it is that we’re going through. In order for us to move through this experience and find a place of healing, we need to address this, normalize the sadness and the pain that so many are feeling and create ways to support each other.” –Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider (in “‘We Are Uncomfortable Being Uncomfortable’: Grieving During COVID-19” by Jessica Gold)
What I’m reading:
An Outsider’s Guide to Humans: What Science Taught Me About What We Do and Who We Are by Camilla Pang
What I’m listening to:
Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford
It’s a Wonderful Wife by Camille Pagan (Audible original short story)
“What’s Negative About Positivity?” — Terrible, Thanks for Asking podcast episode
What I’m watching:
“The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)
Writing news:
All the Acorns on the Forest Floor was included in Reedsy’s list of Best Book Covers of 2020. I concur–it’s a beaut.
Reminders:
All the Love: Healing Your Heart and Finding Meaning After Pregnancy Loss is out on March 23 People Who Knew Me will be re-released on May 11 No Hiding in Boise will release on June 15
What I’m talking about:
How the COVID vaccine is GREAT, but won’t solve everything (read here): “At the current level of infection in the U.S. (about 200,000 confirmed new infections per day), a vaccine that is 95 percent effective — distributed at the expected pace — would still leave a terrible toll in the six months after it was introduced. Almost 10 million or so Americans would contract the virus, and more than 160,000 would die”How Trump passed on an opportunity to secure more Pfizer vaccines, so we are now in line behind other countriesThe long-awaited end of the line for Trump’s ridiculous efforts to overturn the election. The Supreme Court rejected an audacious lawsuit by Texas today. My god, is it January 20th yet?This piece, “Motherhood in America is a Multilevel Marketing Scheme” by Meg Conleyind: “Motherhood in America is a scam. We’re told if we work hard enough, raise our children well, and faithfully support the American dream, then we’ll end up on top. No one ever mentions how the hierarchy of success is shaped like a pyramid. A few mothers get to the top. They give TED Talks and write self-help books. But mostly, we’re the cracking base of a condemned structure. America has never really cared about mothers. If I wasn’t certain of this before, 2020 has made it abundantly clear. The pandemic hit mothers the hardest, yet no one came to help us. Instead, we’ve been asked to dig deeper, push ourselves, and invest more of ourselves in this ‘once in a lifetime opportunity'”
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
Catwalk collapse.
What I’m grateful for:
Healthcare workers. The ICU capacity in Southern California is at 6.2% as of today. Beds are filling up. Staff are overworked (or getting sick themselves). And yet we still have people up in arms about having to wear a mask over their dumb mouths. It must infuriate all the doctors and nurses out there who are trying to do their jobs. Someone I follow on social media said she tested positive for Covid this week. She is very diligent about always wearing a mask. The thing is, wearing a mask mostly protects others from you. If other people aren’t wearing a mask, you may be screwed.
America has always been lauded for its focus on individualism, and now we are seeing the dark side of that. We seem incapable of thinking as a group, for the group. It’s demoralizing and disheartening. I have been feeling depressed this week, and I know it’s because of this. I’m sad about the virus itself, but I’m sadder about what the virus is revealing about us as people.
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