YES! I love summer vacation! I really do!
Yesterday I was out for a walk, and in my social distancing way, I stepped off the sidewalk and on to the street as I passed a fellow walker. He said, "No need to worry! It's summer now and the virus will be dead soon!" I said nothing, smiled, and continued walking, maintaining my 6ft perimeter. But I started thinking...
I had heard this talk about the virus not surviving in warmer weather. This sounded strange to me, unless we are talking about a fiery inferno. I’m not a scientist in the lab working with petri dishes, but what I understand about growing things is that they need some sort of warm and wet environment (like a lung). And if the virus dies in warm weather, it would have to be warmer than the temperature of the human body, so over 98.6 degrees in order to make any difference. Again, I'm not a scientist, and I will gladly step aside and give the floor to a person who has actual knowledge of this. But regardless, I'd like to continue this riff...
Yesterday I was out for a walk, and in my social distancing way, I stepped off the sidewalk and on to the street as I passed a fellow walker. He said, "No need to worry! It's summer now and the virus will be dead soon!" I said nothing, smiled, and continued walking, maintaining my 6ft perimeter. But I started thinking...
I had heard this talk about the virus not surviving in warmer weather. This sounded strange to me, unless we are talking about a fiery inferno. I’m not a scientist in the lab working with petri dishes, but what I understand about growing things is that they need some sort of warm and wet environment (like a lung). And if the virus dies in warm weather, it would have to be warmer than the temperature of the human body, so over 98.6 degrees in order to make any difference. Again, I'm not a scientist, and I will gladly step aside and give the floor to a person who has actual knowledge of this. But regardless, I'd like to continue this riff...
“Flu season” is equated with autumn. Interesting. And in the light of this "the virus will go away in the summer" thought form, I thought, maybe it's not about the temperature of the weather (because didn't Singapore, a very "summery" climate, have a lot of cases?).
Maybe it’s because many of us (at least from a Western world perspective) equate “summer” with “vacation.” We have grown up in the school system with the idea of “summer vacation.” It’s in there at a deep, childhood memory level.
What did we equate fall (which might currently be know as Flu Season) with?
Going back to school. Going back inside. Going back sitting in chairs at desks with rules and a bunch of people around, not by my choice (friends) but stuck in seat assignments so the teacher could take roll or learn our names easier. Stuck in a chair or desk next to someone “gross.” That was the word we used back then to describe the unfamiliar or undesireable, or perhaps something that wasn’t a choice.
Maybe it’s because many of us (at least from a Western world perspective) equate “summer” with “vacation.” We have grown up in the school system with the idea of “summer vacation.” It’s in there at a deep, childhood memory level.
What did we equate fall (which might currently be know as Flu Season) with?
Going back to school. Going back inside. Going back sitting in chairs at desks with rules and a bunch of people around, not by my choice (friends) but stuck in seat assignments so the teacher could take roll or learn our names easier. Stuck in a chair or desk next to someone “gross.” That was the word we used back then to describe the unfamiliar or undesireable, or perhaps something that wasn’t a choice.
So why wouldn’t flu season go along with autumn? Maybe it’s not about the physical temperature, but maybe the temperature of our internal fire of inspiration or creativity that might have been “cooled down” depending on your relationship with school. The fire that is our breath of life, our motivation, our joie de vivre, cooled off by the ringing of a school bell.
Then we get older and get jobs. How many of us still think about “summer vacation?” Is there some sort of “brightening” that happens when we think about summer coming? Is there a sense of “lightening up” or “freedom” or “relief” when we think about summer coming?
And even if we work throughout the entire year and don’t necessarily take our vacations in the summer, is it possible that we have carried the cure for the "doldroms" virus, the "feeling put in a box" virus, the "I’m no longer making present moment choices for myself because I have to show up on time for stuff that may or may not interest me and for some reason I feel like I have to keep showing up in the exact same way, the way that I’m expected to show up every damn day of my damn life to date and I’m frankly just tired of the whole thing and am looking for a way out but not too hard becasue I’m afraid that if I change the world as I know it will fall apart and then I’ll be out on the street, destitute, and will die" virus, —- (take a breath) —- that this cure for the virus might be as simple as a summer vacation? Some space and time to play? to make present moment choices? to be or remember who you are now outside of the container of “school,” “work,” “career,” “identity,” “persona,” or whatever construct or pattern keeps you confined with some sort of “gross-ness” or “germs” that “make us sick?”
Could it be possible that many of us are looking for some excuse to “stay home from school” and remember that we are more than just being a cog in some other human’s machine. A machine that we may not even deeply care about. Even the machines that we in fact do care deeply about.
There may still be a call to detach from the machine to remember and re-discover our New Now.
Who am I? Why am I here? What do I want? What do I really want?
And even if we work throughout the entire year and don’t necessarily take our vacations in the summer, is it possible that we have carried the cure for the "doldroms" virus, the "feeling put in a box" virus, the "I’m no longer making present moment choices for myself because I have to show up on time for stuff that may or may not interest me and for some reason I feel like I have to keep showing up in the exact same way, the way that I’m expected to show up every damn day of my damn life to date and I’m frankly just tired of the whole thing and am looking for a way out but not too hard becasue I’m afraid that if I change the world as I know it will fall apart and then I’ll be out on the street, destitute, and will die" virus, —- (take a breath) —- that this cure for the virus might be as simple as a summer vacation? Some space and time to play? to make present moment choices? to be or remember who you are now outside of the container of “school,” “work,” “career,” “identity,” “persona,” or whatever construct or pattern keeps you confined with some sort of “gross-ness” or “germs” that “make us sick?”
Could it be possible that many of us are looking for some excuse to “stay home from school” and remember that we are more than just being a cog in some other human’s machine. A machine that we may not even deeply care about. Even the machines that we in fact do care deeply about.
There may still be a call to detach from the machine to remember and re-discover our New Now.
Who am I? Why am I here? What do I want? What do I really want?
Maybe we just wanted a little summer vacation. And now we have it. Sort of. Can we make this more of a summer vacation, and remember to play together, take naps, explore dreamtime, try on some different clothes and personas, dance, paint, bake, make a mess, clean it up, or don't?
Are you willing to celebrate life however you do it without apology?
Be present in your New Now?
Connect to your True Value?
Remember that you are living your dream? Dreaming your life?
How do you relate to fun? How do you feel when you have more fun? Explore your relationship to fun even if you aren't in the sun. Stay in and play as if school is out! Perhaps more present moment and more fun are some antidotes to explore! And if science proves otherwise (don't forget the proven power of placebo), at least we had fun trying!