COVID may turn out to be the ultimate stress test for human beings. A literary guide by famed Latin-American writer and Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez first published in 1985 El Amor en Los Tiempos del Cólera in Spanish or Love in Times of Cholera is one classic we recommend for all to read. There is also a magnificent film to watch with an absolutely fabulous soundtrack to give a listen to. But manor no mistake about it, the global pandemic must be eradicated.
In 2002, The Journal of Family Psychology published an extraordinary paper that looked at couples in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Today, we are living a much larger crisis. The coronavirus pandemic forces all of us to contend not just with the customary tensions of a global disaster, which are financial and logistical, but with a personal sense of dread as well. To live through it means tolerating a painful uncertainty as we’re all still waiting to see just how many cases there are and where, how overwhelmed hospitals will become, as well as the economic and emotional fallout.
Singles, as well as those involved in long-term relationships, may have very different coping styles when it comes to uncertainty. One may binge; others have a well-defined sense of when enough is enough and close the refrigerator, turn off the TV, or the computer. How consumed do some become by an emergency? One may be preoccupied with risk, while another tries like hell to maintain as normal a life as they possibly can, for as long as they are able to maintain.
How do most humans move through the world when disaster strikes? Some take a structured, purposeful, proactive approach; while others are more passive and fatalistic.
We all fall onto a spectrum when it comes to these attitudes and behaviors. But if we were to generalize, some lean into crises, in ways both good and bad. They keep me up with worry, but they also energize themselves. Others fret but mostly write out loud.
What has it been like spending more time at home with our partners, children, or other people we love? Feel free to share your experience and specify if you prefer to remain anonymous. Box 147 City Island Station NYC, NY 10464 or you may also reach out via email Admin@cimages.me
