Making Sense from Nothing

60% of the public (most recent polls) do not support trump. 30% do support him. Where the other 10% went I have no idea. 26% of polled Americans believe trump’s COVID reports while 67% believe Dr. Fauci.

Healthcare professionals throughout the nation ask everyone to wear masks, social distance, stay home if possible, and wash hands frequently and thoroughly. Most of us do. Many don’t. They are the ones getting sick and making others sick, too.

Schools are supposed to open in fall, but many communities are resisting reopening schools as they were; instead they are pondering masks, hand washing and social distancing. They are also hoping against all hope that kids do not get the disease as much as other age groups, and don’t spread the disease as much as older groups do, either. That doesn’t mean families, neighbors, teachers and school staff will be unaffected. So, the jury is still out on whether this is a good idea.

Most universities will provide virtual, online instruction and educational supports. What all that means is unknown to those of us not working with universities currently. Hopefully, the genius that resides on most campuses will invent an effective method to learn remotely – whether in a dorm or apartment, or parental home far away. We need to do this. We’ve been teaching people for years via computer and socially distant methods. Have they worked? Has any research been done to conclude that University of Phoenix and all similar schools have successfully educated their students?  I’d like to know this. Wouldn’t you?

If our nation is to survive well into the future, then we must find new ways of doing business, education and social wellness given the COVID experience. We must. Some say we have in the past. So let’s see the evidence.

And art. I miss making music (singing). I miss going to concerts, church and other cultural venues where real people create art in association with others. That magic is absent from our lives today. 

Other forms of art we experience by radio, TV, video, computer and such. But an oil painting needs to be inches or feet in front of the eyes to see the textures, colors, lighting and more. Plays are best experienced live. Symphonies vibrate the cushions of our seats when witnessed live. The air of the concert hall hums with mysteries. Choral performances are absent. Solo recitals are gone for singers.

What is missed is two-way. The performer misses the doing. The audience misses the reception. All lose in every way.

Still, I can write. Still we can read. Literature is available remotely. Libraries may be closed but books are still available. Electronic readers have been wonderful. So the printed word is available anyway you like it to be. A blessing!

What is missing is the group experience of all art. We see creations individually and alone. We see them in group context, too, and learn much from that experience. Seeing the contents of a gallery on my computer is not a worthy substitute. Perhaps if it were broadcast or streamed on our large TV screen it would be OK. But I don’t know how to do that, so the point is moot.

Making sense of things not experienced is difficult. We will appreciate it when we have it back in our lives. Meanwhile, we bide our time and hope. And remember.

July 17, 2020