Tsunami

When the world quarantined mid-March, I viewed that experience as riding a wave.  In hindsight, I’d say it was something much bigger.  My personal and professional life came to a screeching halt, and yet I knew I was not alone.  Living in solidarity with the rest of the world being trapped at home was the only thing comforting about that time.  At that point, I was already thinking about the future.  I feared for the education system.  I feared for the mental health of children and adults.  I feared for the economy.  But now that it is August, so much else has happened, it’s hard not to look back at the last few months and notice something different.

That wave in March was predictive of public health, racial injustice, police reform, the dissolution of the higher education system, and an ever-growing political divide.  The last few months, and the months to come I am now seeing clearly as different stages of a tsunami.

While COVID-19 was running rampant around the world and the US was blissfully ignorant to what was happening, an earthquake happened under water.  This was the initiation.  From here, COVID-19 was widely spread across the US like wildfire, as we were not aware and not paying attention to this public health pandemic.  As public health officials are scrambling to give recommendations, the split of the tsunami has now begun.  While the rest of us were focusing on the immediate waves crashes on shore (ie stressing the hospital system, working from home, George Floyd, protests, unemployment, etc.), another wave was rolling out to sea.  It’s gaining strength and momentum.  With the increase of speed and decrease of the wavelength, we have hit the amplification stage.  This is the stuff from movies; a towering wave coming straight to shore.  This is where we are.  And from what I am hearing and seeing, no one has looked far enough beyond the horizon to notice the massive wave coming right for us. 

It will continue to build until November 3, 2020.  Then, we will be living through the runup.  Some of us won’t survive.  Between substance abuse, suicide, famine, COVID19, and healthcare, we all have the odds stacked against us.  If we can somehow find shelter to run out the runup, we may live to see the other side of this tsunami.

What I thought in March seems so tiny in comparison to everything that has happened in the last few months.  We are living in a very different world.  We need to help each other – no matter our race, socioeconomic status, or political stance.  We are all being impacted together.  Let’s band up and get through this together.

For questions or comments contact Joanna.