The Dharma of Covid 19

These are strange times.

It’s impossible to know what kind of world we are heading toward right now. Some of our leaders are cautioning that we should maintain isolation indefinitely, until there is a vaccine, which might be more that a year away. Other so-called leaders are suggesting that a million or more American deaths are a small price to pay for keeping the wheels of industry moving. We have long ago built a system that acts like it is doing you a favor by giving you a job, but only cares about getting you back to work so that it can continue to make ridiculous money off your labor. It sells this idea to you by pointing out how much stuff you can own with the money they toss to you (I’m not immune; I want to buy a couple of records right now), but some of the stuff you can buy is actually necessity, like health care. And yet, at a moment of global health panic, our system is woefully inadequate to take care of us. Because it was never intended to take care of us. It was intended to provide a service in exchange for money while cutting a middle man (insurance) in on the deal. It views the customer base (you) as the area that needs cost-cutting in order to make a profit.

So here we are, isolated and waiting. So many people already unceremoniously dropped from their employment, while corporate behemoths take money intended to keep small businesses afloat, and the Republican suicide cult calculates how many deaths are acceptable. Lies = “truth”; it’s like they read Orwell as a how-to manual. Backwards states like Texas and Georgia are “opening up” for the sole purpose of denying workers their unemployment benefits. If the company is able to be open, then you are able to work, and if you don’t work because, let’s say, you want to live, then that’s on you; the state won’t help. Meanwhile, I see photographs of formerly bustling tourist destinations: Paris, Berlin, Manhattan. Now virtually deserted. Los Angeles appears to be smog-free. Maybe this is a good moment to get some things back into perspective.

Maybe, the longer we allow ourselves time to ponder, and meditate, and avoid blowing money needlessly on “tourism”, the easier it will be to realize that it was just another money scam taking us away from ourselves. I’m sure that if/when this long period of isolation is able to be over, the presence of friends and loved ones will mean so much more than it may have before. But this could take a while. How are normal (and especially lower-income) families going to get through this without assistance? This could be a “teachable moment” for middle class families who previously thought of poor people on government assistance as leeches taking their taxes; now they find themselves in the same boat.

Don’t be fooled by the “protests” against stay-at-home orders; they are all organized and promoted by big business tycoons. There are always enough nutjobs around to use in an “action” who will gladly show off their weapons or anti-vax signs. But here’s the thing: it turns out that the “rugged individualist” model in America is woefully inadequate to the task in the face of an epidemic. Everyone needs to pull together for the benefit of all, regardless of tribe or region or income bracket. Maybe this time-out allows our society enough time to work that out…

Or maybe it doesn’t. Who knows? I can’t even imagine what my former life is going to look like on the other side of this. Will there even BE live shows for people (my whole reason for doing what I do)? Certainly once a vaccine is available, people will want to congregate again, but how many venues will make it that far? Maybe none. So then we’ll be back to where we were when we first started all those years ago: just one location, with something awesome happening every night because everyone is involved. Maybe cities and counties can find a way to be places where people actually live and thrive, rather than just warehouses for their bodies in between shifts. Maybe we learn that we only need to drive our cars when we NEED to, and the usual definitions of “need” no longer apply.

There are lessons to be learned, obviously. And I’m no teacher. I’m trying to dedicate some of my time alone to meditate, to feel, to learn what I can. And to try to be ready for whatever happens next. But like I said, there’s no way to know what that’s going to be. Live entertainment, or art, might not even exist on the other side of this, except for the ultra rich in their space bubbles. I’m just doing what I love in the moment, for the first time in my life without a plan (because what would be the point of a plan right now?), and letting the universe take me where it’s going…

And that’s ok.