Just when everyone thought that things would be better, it got worse! The laugh was on us. I am referring, of course, to the Omicron menace raging around the world. Nope! I don’t think it’s funny. Far from it. I have family and friends back in the homeland where the whole household was sick. They didn’t even know if they had omicron because it seems like they just had a bad case of the flu. Not bothering to get tested , they just isolated, did the best they could (the usual, time-tested home remedies) and did not step out of the house since getting sick. I just heard from them again lately. Thankfully, they are recovering well. Disinfecting the whole house is next in their agenda. So far so good.
It looks like what some people are saying is true – that although the omicron is highly transmissible, the symptoms are less severe. Well, I still say that it is better to be safe than sorry. You can’t go wrong with extra precautionary measures. Like, even last November, when restrictions were loosened, my family and I still wore masks everywhere and kept social distancing from others as much as possible, rarely, if ever, going for dine in events in restaurants. I don’t really understand how that planeload of party animals on the infamous Sunwing flight could behave in such a manner. On the other hand, who am I to judge? What I do have to say is that if there were laws or rules that were violated, then let them face the consequences. Life is a matter of cause and effect. I know this universal principle is always operative, whether we believe it or not. Sometimes, it sounds cruel but there you go. There are times when some people seem to do what we perceive as horrible things with impunity. But what you see is not always what they are. The operative word here is “seem”.
I remember my philosophy and life teacher telling us once in one of our endless discussions about universal principles and life, that the rich and famous are not always to be admired and envied because there are many other things about their lives that we are not aware of. Suffice it to say though that it benefits us to sincerely love and bless them and not to talk bad about them. You want to be rich also, right?! Maybe famous too. I trust not infamous though. Though there are times when infamy is a matter of perception. Depending on whose or which side you are on. Reminds me of all the varied and motley content out in social media. When you are immersed in all that is out there in social media, your ability to discern is severely tested oftentimes.
I am a late-bloomer when it comes to social media. Somehow I am glad that I have always looked at this phenomena with reluctance and suspicion. I always thought my hesitation in diving into it was borne out of my belonging to a certain era ( Jurassic ? Ha-ha). As I start to engage more in social media in the past year, especially with this never-ending pandemic, I am glad that I have kept my distance. Social media, while it has its good uses (I can imagine some people raising their eyebrows), also has a disturbing side to it. Remember the Facebook whistleblower event and I also think of poor Julian Assange. Somehow, I think they are all relevant and interconnected. So many pros and cons about it. Well, what I am learning is to be more discerning and make my own judgment based on my own thoughts and research. And hope to God that I make the right conclusion, and eventually the right action. This goes as well for the right attitude towards the ongoing surge of the Omicron variant.
When I think of this ongoing surge now, I think of the relevance to what the English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller said in his 1650 religious travelogue, “It is always darkest before the day dawneth”. I hope I am right and not just exercising wishful thinking. Let us see then how the scenario evolves in the next months, while still following all the prescribed health protocols assiduously. As another English poet Alexander Pope expressed in his “An Essay on Man” (1732), “hope springs eternal in the human breast”. So does it in mine own heart.
On that note of hope and looking forward to brighter and better days ahead – I am in the midst now of a book I mentioned in my last column, “The Silk Roads” by Peter Frankopan. Fascinating book. A bit too graphic for me sometimes but still thoroughly absorbing. I have not finished it yet but soon will. So far, I think it gives one a clearer background for the disconcerting geopolitics that is currently going on especially between the major superpowers like the U.S., Russia and China. Actually, I cheated a bit by reading the Conclusion first even before I had finished reading the entire book. Not unlike my habit of checking out the ending first of any drama series or book I am about the view or read. Especially when the drama series is more than 40-episode long. My thought is that my time can be best spent doing something else if the end does not suit me. Ha ha. Does not it mean I am a controlling person? Maybe. At least, I am not controlling someone else. My time is valuable.
Let me also tell you what I find interesting – I read the columns of Rigoberto “Bobit” Tiglao and (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr in The Manila Times of Dante Arevalo Ang who was once one of my bosses in the television network I worked in. I was hoping that Parlade would run for national office as he planned in order to know what is on his mind as he campaigned. Unfortunately, he is not included in the tentative list of Comelec. So, I was delighted to find out that he writes for The Manila Times. I am hoping that he does a regular column. Such an audacious and forthright person. I, for one, would like to know more about what is on his mind. I heard from one vlogger on you tube that sometimes Facebook asks him “what is on your mind”? I wonder what that meant? Time to find out more and to “fact-check” a much used or abused word on social media. I am reminded of the Facebook Philippines fact-checker Vera Files, which seems to be more of an opinion-checker than a fact-checker. At least, that is what I gather so far from my own personal discernment.
By the way, speaking of 2022 – I am eagerly awaiting spring and the warmer months. Guess why? I want to try grounding (also called earthing) or walking on the earth (grass, soil, sand) with bare feet. I understand that this does wonders for one’s health. I faintly recall my life teacher mentioning this once many years ago. But it came up once again when I read Gen.Parlade’s New Year FB post in answer to FB’s question “What’s on your mind?”. He wrote about the benefits of walking with bare feet on the ground which piqued my interest having remembered what I heard many years ago. What I have read so far makes sense to me. Now when I garden or putter around with my indoor plants, I don’t put on my garden gloves anymore. I want to see for myself what it does. For now, this is what I can do during the winter. But as soon as it gets even a bit warmer, off I go to the garden, take off my shoes and socks and feel the earth on my feet. Something to look forward to! Hooray!
Alright, so 2022 started with a downer. But hark! Take heart and know that when you have reached rock bottom (which is what it seems now as far as the pandemic), there is no way but up. Meanwhile, life goes on. If we really think about it, there are so many other things in life to be grateful for.
Tessie O. Taylor