Sheltered II

A month ago I wrote that by seeking shelter we sometimes leave ourselves in the dark.

Little did I know then that we would all soon – more or less – be sheltering in place.

But here we are.

Sheltered.

In place.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we are sheltering-in-place, seeking to find safety for ourselves and others by refusing to become carriers for a deadly virus.

And at times it certainly does feel like we are in the dark.

It feels like we are in a dark place as a society.

And it feels like we are “in the dark” of knowing what to do.

We are caught in a steady stream of frightening, frequently-changing and often conflicting information about what is going on, what we should be doing, what we should not be doing and what our society’s plan is to face this situation.

From within our shelters we seek out information, becoming ever more confused.

Ever more “in the dark.”

There are social media posts, official briefings, websites, memes, interviews and news stories.

We are not in the dark due to a lack of information; rather from being overwhelmed by a mix of helpful, true, half-true, not-true, sensational and harmful information flowing at us from every side.

For my part, I now refuse to listen to the “official daily briefings” from the White House and from my own state government (West Virginia). They have long ceased to be a source of information I find to be credible or helpful.

I find myself in a place that has become familiar over the last several years. (For me that would be from about 2015 to the present.)

This familiar place is a place of trying to find the delicate balance between being informed and staying sane.

For the most part I try to open myself to knowing more (being informed).

I listen and read and absorb lots of information.

But there are times when I need to tune it all out (staying sane).

This week I noticed an old editorial cartoon I had cut out of a newspaper and posted on the bulletin board in our office at home. It was drawn by cartoonist Mike Ritter in 2000.

Twenty years ago.

I’m not even sure now what the original context was for the cartoon.

(Maybe the “Survivor” TV show?)

But it still resonates with me.

It still resonates with me – some days more than others.

Some days – more than others – I need to tip the balance toward “staying sane” and so I take shelter.

Shelter from the mix of helpful, true, half-true, not-true, sensational and harmful information flowing at me from every side.

Even if that leaves me in the dark.

In the dark.

In my shelter.

In place.