Actually, stress can be good. It’s proficient at getting us out of danger, it’s necessary for us to meet deadlines, and it’s so recognizable that we can decide if we want to interfere or if it’s just too time-stealing to justify our attention.
Worry is different from stress. Worry really has no place in our heads because it indicates we are giving control to something that’s already out of our control.
Our newspaper has presented as many views of this covid animal as we can find. Healthcare workers, religious leaders, psychiatrists, retailers, prisoners, grocers – we’ve printed outlooks from multiple layers of this town.
In Europe, people worry mostly about covid affecting their family’s health. In the United States, people are more likely to brood about financial losses if they catch the virus.
Statistically, we agonize about our friends’ and families’ health more than our own. Those who see the virus as a threat to their own health have higher levels of emotional overload, while those who are sympathetic about others have very little apprehension.
Low-income people are twice as likely to stress about covid than rich people because they know that no work means no heat, no food. Yet those with money are more likely to worry themselves into a breakdown because “It’s Just Not the Same.”
We have a grip, a loose one, on this. We have survived lockdowns, shutdowns and isolation because, just as we were told in second grade, we are a special species with hearts that direct us as robustly as our brains. We truly want each other’s heebie-jeebies to go away.
In Eureka Springs, numerous places fed and are still feeding those who can’t get up, can’t get out, can’t deal with adjustment or simply need a leg up. This virus has done its share of damage, but it’s also brought us closer together because awareness of it is something we all have in common.
We have given our planet a moment to breathe because so many commuters are working from home. Recycling what came out of closet cleaning has been a boon to those who need two flannel shirts and three new pairs of socks.
Our eyes have been unlatched enough to see that there are solutions to some dilemmas – wine growers are using grape skins and stalks to make vegan leather. Name-brand companies are offering to buy throwback clothing to resell to ThredUp.
Our diets are better. Meat consumption is falling, we’re learning that it’s not what we cook, but what herbs, spices and butter we add that makes us smack our lips and lick the fork.
Last evening Perlinda and I were sitting on the office deck admiring the quiet of this unexpectedly deep snow. Town was silent, no cars, no sirens, no voices. Suddenly, like a ghost, an unseen man belched from the toenails, loud and clear. It was the only sound in town, and we got to hear it. We tried not to laugh so as not to embarrass him, wherever he was, but tears leaked out of our eyes and the more you try not to laugh the funnier it is.
The meaning? Have thoughts as grandiose as you want, but there’s always someone who will bring you back to the real Eureka Springs and prove that everything passes whether you notice or not.