Observing without Judgement ...

Nothing like an international crisis to practice the art of observing without judgement, and social media, specifically FB since it's the only one used here, is full of opportunities to react to triggers, comment on fast moving issues from a conditioned mind ... just more so ... or, for a change, take a longer look at the ranting, calm down, examine anything which piques interest, discard traditional loyalties to political, religious or any species of leader (influencer became an opinion maker or leader a while ago), and sit with whatever arises. After all, there is plenty of time for many of us.

After a very wet February, March offers some Sun, just as official advice becomes instruction to stay at home and not every home has a garden, cities being where the real suffering lies ... one authorised escape from house arrest is for exercise, though so far the length of time is not specified ... essential shopping also allowed ... shops deemed not essential instructed to close ... the narrative is very compelling, with a compliant population primed for a fear response, ready, willing and able to follow orders, point fingers, inform on neighbours ... we have been here before ...

Meanwhile, opportunities abound and local initiatives spring up to supply the elderly and vulnerable with food, medicine and some social, though not physical contact. Self-isolation becomes a life saving strategy at the same time as being a cruel and unusual punishment ... some elders prefer to take their chances, since death is inevitable and quite likely within a year or so, with or without this particular virus ... still, the established scientific orthodoxy holds sway, DUK PM picks up his long awaited Churchill role, moderates his normal narcissism, defers to chief medical and chief scientific leaders, one of whom has senior experience with pharmaceutical company GSK, pointing to the inexorable journey to a vaccine ready, waiting and mandatory at the end of the drama ...

The human immune system, meanwhile, is undermined by the fear response ubiquitous around the world ... stress long recognised as a prime cause, whilst decades of degraded diets, application of chemical pollutants as sunscreen, anti-perspirant, perfume, premature medical intervention to suppress symptoms whilst the natural defence mechanism is getting into gear, the drastic regime of household hyper-hygiene, bleached, sprayed, killing all known germs ... an unannounced war on Nature, as if we were separate from it ... all telling our precious immune system it's not needed ...

Folk wisdom holds that a healthy body needs some dirt to operate ... we just don't have an instruction manual for how much and what sort ... our instincts are sacrificed to experts selling us stuff we don't need or positively poisonous ... an hypnotised populace addicted to consumption ... this strange time when we have a chance to sit back and see what a healthy life and economy looks like ... unless you are a carer, nurse, doctor or other key soldier in the war against the virus.