The Real Pandemic That Is Killing Us All

While I have been self-isolating for three months, I have moved in and out of feelings the way one might move in and out of different rooms in their home. The one thing that is constant is the stark reality of always finding myself at home. One day, one moment, there is sadness and anger. Then, they play over and over like a record skipping from one track to another except it is my emotions. I ultimately end up at the end of the record. The song ends the same way every time. The two emotions intersect and there is a collision within me and I arrive at fear. I dread the future without faith, hope, love, empathy, and forgiveness. I am concerned that change that is thousands of years overdue will not ever occur for some. The need for change is long overdue. I know how to argue and my family says I missed my calling as an Attorney. I do not intimidate easily and I have never been one to back away from confrontation; however, I am scared of an enemy named Hate. He has no place in my heart! There is too much of it in the world. The frightening thing is that it spreads like wildfires. A single spark can ignite and consume a continent. Then, there are the after effects that are rarely discussed: erosion, landslides, debris flows, poor water quality, and floods. They all effect the vegetation and delicate ecosystem. Fire does not simply stop when the flames are extinguished just like hatred systematically continues to create pain after the hate is gone. The most frightening thing is that there is so much hatred, when we kill it, it seems to come back from the dead like a zombie. Unfortunately, I have started to believe that like love, hate will always be here since it is a human emotion. I do not believe that we can get rid of it. We need to sound the fire alarm when it pops up though. It needs to be doused with education, love, understanding, empathy, and tolerance. It is going to take an entire community of Firefighters to do this. We cannot rest when the Black Lives Matter protests are over. This is a way of life. This is WHO you are. It is not something you do when it is convenient. All people in all communities must join to remove it. Here is the complicated part. Not unlike wildfires and zombie apocalypses, hate is also like a cancer that easily spreads. Even the smallest trace left behind will regenerate itself and metastasize. It only takes one cell. We need to cut it all out. We need aggressive prevention and treatment. It is not that unlike COVID-19 in a lot of ways since there is a pandemic of hate that is man-made that we are also trying to eliminate, but we created hate. It lives within us. COVID-19 is presumably from nature. Whether it be the original hate of a cop or the ensuing hate of crowds responding, all of it must be turned back (not the protesters). We need justice. We need a dialogue. We actually need to listen to one another instead of speaking. We need to come together to a place of harmony where there is understanding, tolerance, and respect. We need to CHANGE. We need to show love and kindness. There will likely be a cure for COVID-19. Science will find it. But this one, the one that has threatened us before and does so again, this one is up to us - not science to end. It is a job for the people who started it. It is man's creation and man’s responsibility to eliminate hatred. We must lock it out of our hearts and our lives. Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Will you change with me?