Quarantined Freedom
What can we learn from losing freedom in America...
Faith not Fear, Together not Against
What we can learn from losing freedom in America
If there’s anything I think we can learn from this current COVID-19 virus crisis, it’s that we need to take our lives a bit more seriously. We need to take care of one another and appreciate the breath in our lungs and chance the sun decides to shine.
We need to step up with joy, peace, and love as we continue to trudge through the unknowns, together.
Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash
America, we know we live in one of the highest first-world countries, with many — and I mean many — privileges. But, whenever privileged life becomes practiced normal life, we begin to take things for granted. In a country and culture largely defined by consumer capitalism, overabundance, and freedom, I think it’s time we take a close look on sustainable stewardship for what we’ve been given.
Let’s not take freedom for granted. Let’s not take anything for granted.
Many people in America are feeling deep pressures of quarantine due to the provocative push of COVID-19 and the massive economic fallout right now. It came in from the coast on both sides and caused a lot of panic and confusion to begin with. Now, each state in this country is taking strong action to pose a societal shut down of sorts, suggesting we minimize gatherings of people above ten.
Count your blessings with the fingers that you have, because that’s all you get.
Businesses and restaurants, corporations and school systems are all closed. Tens of thousands of scared Americans have frantically applied for unemployment each night in recent weeks. Small businesses, quite frankly the connecting dots between human connection within our cities and towns are filing for bankruptcy.
Civilization is looking less and less civil each day, is it not?
Now, many of us have been forced to quarantine within our homes for 1 week, 2 weeks, indefinitely. Where do the lines of freedom and restriction lie when we live in this state, I wonder?
Let us not forget what it was like to be together. Let us not forget what it was like to as humans free to be in community. Let us not forget our humanity.
Americans have grown divided in a short amount of time due to natural human instincts of feeling scared and overwhelmed in this time. Quarreling over social media and fighting one another for toilet paper at the local supermarket isn’t going to help anyone. Stripped of our safety and security, peace and patience, any human will grow increasingly animalistic. It’s who we are. Thankfully, the stores have made executive action to provide specific store hours for those most vulnerable. We think about ourselves more than others when we feel like our needs aren’t being met. And indeed, it is better for us to reach for our own oxygen mask before we try to help our neighbor, less we both fall short of saving anything or anyone.
People have stormed retail and grocery stores in hopes to find some security stocking up on cartful of processed, packaged, shelf-stable food, toilet paper and who knows what else as they walk in fear of the unknown — just like the rest of the world.
One thing about us Americans though, is that we struggle to trust others, remain calm in times of unknown or have faith in times of trouble. Anxiety reigns supreme during times uncertainty. We are extremely terrible at finding appreciation and satisfaction, which is understandable since our culture is defined by innovation and growth. We are never calmly resting with faith and favor. “I must take action!” is a normal way to think, but in a time like this, I hope we acknowledge and appreciate what we do have instead of destroying ourselves by playing the losing battle of what-ifs.
Italy and Guatemala
There’s much we can learn from other cultures and countries in my opinion. I have personal anniversaries in March, both three and five years ago, in which I had the chance to spend time in Torino, Italy. My time there was spent in deep discussion, human connection, and communal mealtimes like I had never experienced in America.
I had shared meals with 12+ people on more than one occasion and felt warmed and welcomed by local Italians who chuckled at my broken attempts to practice my Italian language. One stands out to me the most is the sheer appreciation for time spent together, either visiting a friend, sharing un café, or waving to one another on the street. There was such a depth and appreciation for people I cannot articulate with words.
Similarly, in 2018 I visited several families and villages throughout Guatemala. I learned what it meant to hike in the mountains and how strangely delightful a hot cup of corn tea could be. I learned how to stand in the silent forests for hours, not seconds or minutes, searching for a single remarkably majestic bird. I learned what it means to really disconnect and go off the grid, and how valuable it is to not have a cell phone or news notifications eclipse my day to day interactions with the people I was meeting and the beautiful places I was going.
One of the fascinating things that blew me away with in the cultures and communities of Guatemala, was the sheer calm and relaxation they maintained no matter the circumstance or societal challenges they felt. Pressure from the north and south caused them to be mindful yes, fearful, no. They cared for one another in a way I had only fathomed from famous phrases like “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, in fact that was true in many of the places I visited in Guatemala.
Everyone was in it together, for the greater good of the community. They were calm, they were rested, they were grateful for the gifts of everyday and pressed onward and upward each morning for the hours of laborious chores and mountainous climbs required each day. There was a defined strength of community who had experienced hardship in the past, knew what to be thankful for and knew they would get through anything, together.
All imagestaken by author: Jonathan Isbill. Guatemala, 2018
Back in America
It’s amazing how some families have come together to use video and connect across town or even across the country or the globe. Other families are playing board games and cooking together like they never have before. One of my friends said he ended up started doing his morning workout routine at home with his six-year-old daughter before they both had to tackle her school’s digital lesson plan for the day. When we take the time to be intentional and personable with one another, that’s what brings us closer together during trialing times.
After all, we have been described as a melting pot or a salad bowl of cultures and people, infinitely different and unique, and yet all still the same at the end of the day. Let us remember that. Nothing will change that, not even a virus.
Alongside the global emergency that COVID-19 has become, we are still facing other unexpected challenges like natural disasters. Salt Lake City, Utah experienced an unexpected earthquake, only weeks after Nashville, Tennessee came face to face with a tornado that ripped through several communities. I can only do my best to imagine the hardship of a family faced to take on the stage of life without a home, being asked to self-quarantine in a community shelter that’s already bursting at the seams.
Let’s be honest to acknowledge the simple fact that we can’t protect ourselves from every major event in this world because there are many things out of our control period what we can do though however, is stand together to face on any challenge that comes our way.
What I hope we learn from these current times in our society is that we need to be better prepared for a communal combat of any degree. Whether we take on a virus or climate change or a public health crisis at any level, it takes all of us to work together to take care of our communities and our country.
Let’s not forget our history from just one generation ago, with the devastating events of September 11, 2001. A mark in the history books that not only shaped America but shaped the entire globe. From mass transit and governmental affairs, airline security, and so much more, the frameworks of living changed dramatically. From the same token came mass discrimination, prejudice, and social distancing for a whole different reason than worries of the flu. Superfluous nationalism and extremist ideologies grew strong with nothing short of hate for people groups overseas they had no connection or experience with before.
Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash
Fear of the unknown has deep, damaging effects for societal infrastructure, and the simple, unconscious thoughts and behaviors of its people.
Brutal racism, bigotry and cruel judgements for the beautiful people and cultures of the middle east became interwoven in nearly every neighborhood to some degree. Just as much as this country was founded on freedom, there’s a fair argument for its groundwork being built on racism as well. Xenophobia is an extremely dangerous word we should all become familiar with, just as much as words like racism, prejudice, and bias. After 9/11, the word terrorist became household nomenclature, though it was as foreign a word at the time as the people we began using it to describe by pointing fingers. And I’m not here to throw stones, believe me; I’m here as an observer of culture to prompt questions and consider conversations that I think we should have- as individuals, as communities, and as a country too.
The last thing I want to see as result from all of these events, is a similar racial surge for Asian culture and communities. The French press took to the scene with blatant racist remarks suggesting a “Yellow Alert” as the virus travels from China into France. It’s sparked a heated, racial debate within the country, further increasing the divide of a society that could be using their efforts to help, not hurt one another with their words and actions. French-Asians battled back on social media with visual displays and demonstrations with #IAmNotAVirus. Indeed, no human being is a virus, we play the role of hosts to the virus, whether it be a coronavirus like COVID-19 or other kinds of viruses, like hate, racism, and discrimination. Let’s be clear, any virus can destroy a society and its people — from the inside out.
Yes, it’s been suggested that COVID-19 “came from China,” but this news should never be something to use to discriminate, penalize, or ostracize others from social equity. Again, I believe we are all one human race on this one big planet; one species and we each need to have skin in the game to protect our family members and our neighbors as best we can.
Global communication networks and world health organizations rallied together, setting aside differences in order to prepare best and take care of their people. This is something none of us were prepared for, something none of us expected. This is not a time to judge or criticize.
This is a time to fall back on our laurels, muse over old memories, and hold the hands of our parents, grandparents, and children just a little bit stronger and a little bit longer.
Photo by twinsfisch on Unsplash
How we respond to this epidemic will brand our character as a people, country, and culture for decades onward. Let us not forget our inexcusable racism and prejudice that came forth from 9/11 or that associated with Black history or even the more recent misjudgments of Hispanic and Latino people. Every person is our neighbor, every person is our person.
To serve, protect and provide freedom and liberty as we all search for the same thing in the pursuit of happiness.
We need to be in this together, less we fail to survive on our own — alone.
Crafting conversation I think worthy for us to have. We live in a crazy, undefined world. We really do need one another in order to live our best lives possible on this planet.
We Zig and we Zag our way to health and happiness.
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Thank you for reading! #ZigZagNutrition