Health Care and Media In Trouble: A Pandemic Reflection
“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s July in Ocean Beach and I’m sitting on the tailgate of my truck, watching small waves caress the surface of the ocean. The cloudy gloom of the sky has gone away for the year. The days are warm and long. If you lived in a sea cave you’d only be aware of the gentle breeze, bird song, and abundance of Summer. For most people who don’t live in a cave, however, they would have a hard time sensing the seasonal joys as the second wave of the pandemic slides across the country. Fear and uncertainty cloud people’s emotional well-being as a new round of statewide closures reverse the hope and progress of the slow reopening of “normal” life. What of that so-called “normal” life anyway? Was it good for everyone? Was it good for you? Was it good for me? Would it have been good for future generations?
If a magic genie were to come along that gave you a chance to change your life, would you take it? If she gave you a chance to change your children’s worlds, would you take it? If she gave you a wish to change the world for everybody, flora and fauna included, would you take it?
If you haven’t already inferred where this line of questioning was going, it feels like we’re at that point right now. This second wave, this ‘pandemic pause’ is like a meditation/nature retreat for the whole world. Individually, communally, collectively. It is an opportunity to take a deep, long, objective view at our habits, thought patterns, goals. A chance to re-examine our home-life, support systems, relationships - both intrapersonal and interpersonal - and the how and who we want to be. But more important than the how and who is the why [1]. Why do we do/think/believe/feel/act/say the things we do? Why do we want to be what we strive to be?
At no other time in our recorded human history has the world been put on a pause of sorts, while retaining the functionality of civilized services like water supply, food supply, infrastructure, and communications. Not even during the world wars was the globe united by an event like this. And today we have global, instant communications. So we are more connected than ever. What a perfect time to be put on pause.
I feel this second wave of closures and surge in illness is a blessing. Certainly not for those who are grieving over lost loved ones. My heart and prayers go out to all affected in those ways. Sincerely. But a blessing in that we have more time to contemplate the new world we wish to see. This pause is lasting longer than most wished for. We have more time to reflect on the habits and systems that no longer serve our collective and individual well-being. More time to be the change and create new systems for living. More time let the old “normal”, the old systems, the ones that don’t fit our new why, fade away.
In the profound cycle of life in the universe, Life and Death don’t oppose each other, they’re actually complementary to each other. Life gets stagnant, sour, boring if not refreshed and updated. Death is that activator in the physical realm. Death is the catalyst for creation. One journey’s end is another journey’s beginning. This pandemic is a catalyst for creating better things for us. We are living in special times. Times that will be studied by future historians and pointed to as a giant pivot for humanity. How do you want to remember now?
To speak flippantly or abstractly about Death does not discount nor marginalize the true feelings of loosing a loved one. The grief is real. The emotions, sorrow, and pain are real. The compassion I have for families who’ve lost someone is very real. I want to channel those emotions and compassion to empower some change. Maybe even reap a little justice.
That we are in a transition period and that individuals and systems will not make it, will not survive, is true too. It’s also true that individuals dying in the manner which is common to this pandemic – alone, sudden, hooked up to machines [2,3, 4] – is needlessly tragic and avoidable.
The modern health care systems - the medical-industrial system - aren’t advanced enough, evolved enough, don’t know any better, to stop these kinds of deaths from happening. There is no official reports or studies that can prove that statement though. This is just how I feel with what I see, what I hear, and what I read about this. The manner in which some individuals are dying is inhumane and not honoring of life. In a profound way, their deaths are exposing a medical system that is ready to transition, and in a sense, ready for a death of its old ways. The medical field is a need of a change towards authentic health and well-being. The medical-industrial system should not stay in its old ways of propagating itself to be self-serving to a minority of individuals and corporations while it continues to sell its customers a compromised product [5, 6, 7]. This second wave is a blessing to be better able to see this. It’s a blessing in that we can better honor those who’ve passed by making changes to the very systems that have adversely affected us. We should change these systems so that they may honor those in the future.
Months ago, this uptick in illnesses was forecasted by many, including prominent public health organizations [8]. It should not come as a surprise yet the tone surrounding the news is dramatic and alarmist, causing a surge in people’s fears. A surge most acutely felt by those consume a lot of tv, news, and mainstream media. For it is really, in all honesty, the traditional media’s coverage that has caused much fear, anxiety, and weariness. The aforementioned outdated medical system acknowledges that anxiety and fear cause stress on a cellular level, which creates cortisol, an inflaming protein. Too much inflammation in any one body-system will cause that system to fail, leading to disease and possibly lead to death [9]. Fear is a killer. The traditional media is causing fear in many who stay tuned into it’s messages. The traditional, mainstream, popular media has lost its way and has become another self-serving system for profits, self-preservation, and subversive hidden agendas, like the medical-industrial system. Here’s a prediction: we will look back at this time and see how the media made this pandemic worse. This second wave is a blessing to be better able to see this.
To prematurely rush back to the old “normal” would be akin to taking a cake out of the oven too early.
Let’s eat delicious cake and not settle for what’s in front of us. Let’s use this pause to our advantage. That means sitting in this uncomfortable holding pattern (more like a squeezing pattern) a little bit longer. Human beings are strong, creative, resilient creatures and I have no doubt we’ll get through this rough patch OK. Reflect on all the times you were in a rough patch before, and how you always came out wiser and stronger. There’s always a way through a rough patch, with something worth it on the other side. The pay-off to this pause could be incredible, even more than you could imagine or wish for.
So what did you ask from that magic genie? Imagine living that wish. I invite you to take a deep, intentional breath with that wish in your heart and observe how it makes you feel. Did you feel giddy and excited and heart-warmed? Great! Repeat as often as necessary to remind yourself of your why. Did another feeling arise? Did another feeling seem to block the wish you observed in your imagi-feel-ination (we made a new word). That’s great too! That obscuring feeling that arose is just showing you the next step to take on the way to that wish. The next step being how to release that blocking, constrictive, limiting feeling. There is more resources and assistance than ever before on how to do that [10, 11, 12, 13].
Historians and scholars of the future will examine this time and it’s reverberations. Our children and their children will reflect on these times and probably study it in school. I sit, curiously and inquisitively, and wonder at the possibilities of what they might study. I take action, though, to shape the possibilities of what I wish they’ll study.
What does action look and feel like to you? Leave a comment!
References (for facts) and Resources (for empowerment):
Simon Senek – TED Talk – How Great Leaders Inspire Action How Great Leaders Inspire Action (Resource)
USA Today – April 9th, 2020 Fact Check: Are Coronavirus Patients Dying Alone In Hospitals? (Reference)
NY Times – March 16th, 2020 - Italy’s Coronavirus Victims Face Death Alone, Funerals Postponed (Reference)
NY Post - May 29th, 2020 - Northwell Health Probing Use of Ventilators for Covid Patients (Reference)
Mike Magee M.D., Code Blue – April 21st, 2020 - Code Blue: Inside America’s Medical Industrial Complex (Resource)
Vikas Saini M.D., Shannon Brownlee, of The Lown Institute - https://lowninstitute.org/ - HuffPost May 26, 2017 – Corrupt Healthcare Practices Drive Up Costs and Fail Patients (Resource)
Brad Brooks – Rueters, June 4th 2019 - Exclusive: SEC probes Siemens, GE, Phillips in alleged China medical equipment scheme (Reference)
MRC Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College of London - May 21st, 2020 - Report 23 - State-level tracking of COVID-19 in the United States (Reference)
Carnegie Mellon University. ScienceDaily, 2 April 2012. How stress influences disease: Study reveals inflammation as the culprit. (Reference)
To Be Magnetic (Resource)
Quantum Neuro Reset Therapy (Resource)
The previous three resources are just a short list. There’s so many more manifestation, healing, self-help, abundance, and mindfulness teaching available. Look to your local area for a practitioner or coach near you. Support local!