The media is filled with its subjective assessments and assumptions of what the Coronavirus is and what it will be doing to this life as we know it. These subjective analysis have a bias for raising fear because as we have seen, fear is sexy, it buys elections. Everyday an aspect of your life is being snatched away from you by the governing parties in the name of knowing what’s best for you during this never experienced before public health crisis. This shock to our collective capitalism-based reciprocity has pushed many to a brink of explosive anxiety, created by that sexy fear. This sexy fear is feeding our impulses leading people to hoard resources 20 times more than what they actually need. This sexy fear justifies the use of xenophobia and racism as a protective mask.
The phrase social distancing did not exist in the human vocabulary until around 2-weeks ago but now it’s the prescription for the placebo cure of Coronavirus. Two days ago, the state “shut us in,” reminding people that they can enforce Marshall law if we do not respond to the governors self-quarantined orders. This has already occurred in several states and the way things are trending all of the US will be under Marshall Law soon. China closed all their doors and the infection rate has completely halted. Italy has also experienced positive results from Marshall Law. A town in Italy was able to have all its residents get tested and now there has not been any new infections.
Globally, mother earth is jumping for joy. Many areas have seen strong decreases in pollution and many wildlife that hasn’t been seen in certain areas in a long time have returned. There is much uncertainty nationally and globally of what will happen to us all whenever this threat passes. We are getting conflicting information daily, and everything changes as the self-quarantined days go by. In the immediate, to tether the panic, it is crucial to realize that there is only so much in our control. It’s also important to realize that YOU are all that you can truly control right now. It’s up to you how you decide see this moment; how you respond to it and how you respond to others. One can try to inspire others to do what we think they should do but ultimately their decision is not in our hands. This time calls for effective measures. It is a time to decide what’s healthiest for you and implement what works for this current situation. It is necessary to consider how your decision is going to impact your loved ones. Do you want time of global uncertainty to be an emotionally healthy experience? Or do you want to create (or reinforce) an unhealthy situation? Being effective also means choosing what kind of person you want to be in this seemingly rare and challenging moment. Do I want to be the kind of person that gets sucked into the exploitation of sexy fear by the media? Or do I want to be the healthy person I need to be for me in this moment? What kind of person will I be when the chains of sexy fear release me and we are allowed to return to our forever changed lives? Will I be connected to healthy life systems? Or will I live in sexy fear, falling into the “what if” rabbit hole and living in a state of constant fear? This is truly what you are in control of.
When times become emotionally challenging it is important to implement healthy activities to help us cope with them and learn that this is something only we can learn how to manage. Below is a list of coping skills and I challenge you to add to it. Ultimately, it is all up to you how you respond to this uncertain time and how you will emerge at the end of it all.
So, what are you going to decide to do?
Here’s a link to a list of coping skills to implement whenever sexy fear begins to creep in:
