A Perfect Day

Lockdown. Containment. ... Language creates reality. The terms "lockdown" and "containment" were taken over from international polemics into everyday German language. What do they mean to those who do not know English? What do they mean for the most threatened people in our society, the elderly and the aged? What is a good day for them? Taken in solitary confinement in a language that talks past them. How little considered by politics and the media.

A swing of thoughts out of the topic right at the beginning when trying to put things in order. Distracted from what's happening. Too big and complex and multi-layered is all this for a concise approach. America is burning. Narcissism everywhere. The virus an unequalizer. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

To illuminate all facets, to forget nothing and no one, will fill volumes. No area, no place will be left out. Some things are changed forever, some things remain the same. Hope?

What may remain is the knowledge of the value of small things. How grand they are! The value of an embrace. The value of a trip to the countryside. To meet friends. Going to an inn. To listen to a concert. To listen to a birdsong without disturbing background noise. To enjoy a good glass of wine. To be allowed to take off the mask. To have lost no one. To be healthy.

A perfect day? It doesn't have to be. It just needs to be a good day. It's just knowing these things. And the awareness and the gratitude to be here and not where the fire is.

back