Forced Oneness

COVID-19 doesn’t care where you’re from

It doesn’t check for your passport

Or your citizenship

Or your next of kin

 

It doesn’t ask whether you have the new state-issued “Real ID”

With the special star symbol on it

 

COVID-19 doesn’t care how great you were

Or claim to be

Or whether you will be great again

 

From everything we know so far

It doesn’t attack plants

Or rocks

Or dogs

Or cats

 

It doesn’t go after

The winged ones

Or the finned ones

Or the creepy crawlers

 

COVID-19 attacks us as a species

It seeps into us as a human

It takes over our respiration

(Maybe it’s time for a re-SPIR-ration).

 

It forces each of us to come to terms with the fact

that

we are truly all in this one together.

 

So, to whom do you turn as your trusted news source?

Yourself

Your mind

Your discernment

Your wise judgment

Your body

Your heart

Your spirit

Your inner knowing

 

If it sounds like a duck

Walks like a duck

It is well, you know,

A duck

 

And so it is.

We’re all in this together.

Don’t lose heart

Or common sense

Which seemingly is not so common

Right now

After all

 

For your consideration:

Despite the challenges, and even because of them, this pandemic provides an opportunity for each of us to take a humility break.  Let us be sensitive to what unites us rather than divides us. It’s what first responders do. Take heed. Let’s all be first responders. As humans. Let’s reSPIRate.

During this time of the stay-at-home directive in California, I’ve found myself giving the flowers and plants in my garden a little extra attention and tender loving care. And, the rainbow this morning appearing as a semicircle of rays of light above the roofline during the early mist reminds me that not all things beyond our control are unwelcomed.  Even in the most trying of situations, there can be much beauty to behold.

Okay, your turn:

What does the phrase “forced oneness” mean to you? Is it an opportunity, or a curse?  Or, is it something else altogether?

I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences by leaving a Reply in the Comments section, below. Soul-to-soul!

© 2020 Lori A. Noonan. All Rights Reserved.

 

Where are we headed?

As much as I appreciate the benefits that advances in technology have brought us, I ponder whether those advances will ever fully and in any way meaningfully replace the human element.  Would we even desire to have such a world, ultimately? In this new moon’s edition of Soul Notes, I offer a poem.

Humanly elemental

Industrial revolution

Internet

Cloud computing

Electronic mail

Socket layers

Virtual fire walls

Machine learning

Pattern recognition

Human recognition

Human evolution

Human revolution

Artificial intelligence

Emotional intelligence

Intelligence quotient

Self-serve check-out stands

Vending machines

ATMs

Scanners

Swipe and go

Robots

Robot dolls

Human interaction removed

Elemental

Detrimental

What happens to connection

Hand to hand

Heart to heart

Human pulse

Life force

Life source

Life blood

Batteries already included

Artificial anything not needed

What’s needed

is

the

human

element

 

For your consideration:

Have we gone too far with technology? Or, have we not gone far enough? Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

Okay, your turn:

Where in your life have you found advances in technology to be your saving grace? When at times have you simply stepped away from technology and turned instead toward other life enhancing alternatives?

I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences by leaving a Reply in the Comments section, below. Soul-to-soul!

© 2019 Lori A. Noonan. All Rights Reserved.