As I sat and listened to the lyrics of this song, I wondered, do you ever sit back and reflect on all the $%@$ that is going on right now?  I mean, really reflect.  Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, and apparently we all need fences, the divisiveness is so sad and disheartening.  This isn’t a Pollyanna post about just getting along with one another, it’s about taking a good hard look in the mirror and asking yourself what role you play in this mess we have found ourselves in.  I know, you feel lied to, walked on, misunderstood, politicized or some variation of these things and you want to take back some control.  The problem is that we are acting like a bunch of toddlers who just had their toy taken away for no good reason.  Whether you are stomping your feet and demanding to have your life back or quietly submitting to our newly established mandates, I guarantee you that we are all feeling the same; helpless.  We all want to take back our lives along with some semblance of control.  Life feels messy, unpredictable and scary right now and those are all adjectives that we do not like to use to describe anything, let alone our entire existence.

What’s the answer?  I don’t know, but they say that acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step to healing.  What would happen if we all took some responsibility for the fact that we are mad about the fact that we feel helpless right now?  What would happen if we went back to that first week of quarantine when we were “all in this together?”  What would happen if we all took a step back and acknowledged the possibility that we like to “know” things and this whole situation seems to constantly be evolving?  What would happen if we all agreed that regardless of what the media says,  the hype, questionable statistics and differing scientific findings that we are in the midst of “something” that has made us all feel helpless and out of control?  Why do you think everyone wants to be “right?”  Because being “right” feels safe; it feels like life is under control and therefore we know what to expect next.

If I choose to believe that this mess is manufactured and overblown then not wearing a mask is consistent with my beliefs.  If I choose to believe that there is a virus that seems to attack the vulnerable, but also some perfectly healthy people, that seems highly transmissible, but not always, I’m going to wear a mask because it’s consistent with what I believe.  Both views feel like control.   For the love of all things, what would happen if we acknowledged that there is more that we don’t know than we actually do know?  I realize it’s hard for some of us to imagine that we don’t know EVERYTHING, but I assure you, we don’t.