Sorry for getting this out so late, it has been one whale of a week.
First of all some unfinished business from last week. I have kayaked Hell’s Canyon, but never the Grand Canyon.
Let’s talk about fear. You would have to be living under a rock not to know about the coronavirus that is sweeping the news. I don’t know what the truth about this is, I do know a lot of people seem concerned but mostly the concern is about what we don’t know about this virus. It is that not knowing that is the worst because not knowing lets your imagination run wild and usually in directions and magnitude far beyond what ever actually happens. In this day of easy and instantaneous access to information, we are flooded with this report and that report and this statistic and that statistic and it seems really scary if you let it be, but remember the reporting of an item does not change the fact of an item. I will give you an example. I often turn on the Weather Channel when I have trouble falling asleep. I made this mistake one time when I had to fly home from the east coast in tornado season. I listened to the weather-caster about this storm and that potential tornado and flash flood warnings and suddenly I was terrified to get on a plane to go home. I just couldn’t see how we were going to make it in one piece.
Then I realized, that “climate change” notwithstanding, the weather is just the weather, pretty much the same as it has always been. What was different was how much of it was dramatized by the Weather Channel just so I would keep watching. The Weather Channel in my opinion does a great service by making weather information readily available everywhere but they really practice at keeping you tuned in to it by the delivery. My message? Learn to separate the facts from the hype. Yes this is a serious disease, and some people have unfortunately died as a result but viruses are a fact of our life as they have always been and once you have taken as many precautions as you can you need to live your life. So, wash your hands often, cover your mouth when you cough, if you feel sick stay home, don’t go to China, just like always. If you are terrified of the possibility of dying, think about why, maybe it is because you haven’t really lived. Take care everybody and have a great weekend.
Ed
