“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
― Voltaire
Oh my, how events have changed since my blog post in early March. I don’t even want to bring up the pandemic, because you hear of nothing else these days, but it would be impossible to not mention it.
I’m a calm individual, but the hoarding and mass hysteria has been getting to me. If it’s rankling me, most of you must be hurting too. So, I want to share a few things that are helping me to stay normal.
The first is my son’s podcast, TheLOCKERROOM on 95.7 CRUZ FM in Edmonton. Lochlin, Grant and Jimmy are three funny and irreverent guys. I’m not just saying this because Loch is my son. They make me laugh, and if I didn’t have a chuckle every day, I’d surely slide into an abyss of depression. Yes, they’re talking about COVID-19 on the show, but they keep the tone light, and still goof off as usual. In my opinion, these boys perform an essential service—the same as wine merchants.
The second thing is artwork. Drawing, painting, and collaging magically devours my focus and takes my mind off the current havoc of world affairs. I can glide through an entire day without once thinking about the dire statistics pumped out by the media, or my diminishing supply of toilet tissue. If you have an activity you can lose yourself in, dive into it now.
Go outdoors and enjoy nature if you can. Corona virus is a human predicament. It hasn’t stopped the cherry blossoms or the extraordinary blooming of the Magnolias in my neighbourhood. Trees, in fact, don’t seem bothered at all. I’ve long suspected our leafy friends are the intelligent life form on this planet, and I feel blessed to be close to a host of them in Stanley Park.
For the past two weeks, whenever the news got under my skin, I’ve sat down to work on the digital collages included in this post. Both pictures were inspired by a tree from my hood. I’ve whiled away a myriad of pleasant hours in the midst of all the grievous news.
Stay well, everyone, and stay sane. Hopefully next month will usher in a brighter lookout.
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