Troubled, Distracted.
Coronavirus. All I know for sure is that I don’t know or feel I can believe anything about it with any confidence.
I do know that the more I know about anything, about life, the more I understand the enormity of what I don’t know.
And, fighting my rational, reasonably assessed ignorance, I do know I’m the same as most humans. Most – perhaps all – of us like certainty. And I do know that that’s in short supply right now.
Everyone will have some kind of view as to what comes in the virus’s train. Their own thoughts about likelihoods. Risks. Fears. And hopes. We are always wise to keep hopes nourished.
Walking notably empty paths, looking for a distraction; escape. Looking for something to focus on. Aware that a focus on uncertainty is valueless.
Purple. Try to focus on what it prompts. I know it’s a colour to encourage contemplation, meditation. Things timeless. And high quality. I think, perhaps, justice too.
I don’t know if the association with royalty and riches is positive or otherwise.
Purple’s link with mourning is common. But death will always happen. It’s better – and, yes, positive – to be prepared to mourn a passing, however hard it might be. Denying that everything’s finite is unquestionably futile. Futility breeds frustration.
Pair purple with some strong yellow. A classic hippie-era coupling. Yellow’s a colour of optimism. An attention-grabber. It’s a good combo.
And the bird droppings in the photo are fine. I’d rather know there are birds perching, maybe nesting there than know they’re scarce, or that they’d been scared off, or that they’d been killed.
Strong colours. Positive human meanings. Birds proceeding blithely.
An escape that bears scrutiny.
The why of it
I went out consciously looking for a distraction. It’s annoying to find yourself perpetually drawn to ‘the news’ while all the time knowing there’s little news that’s time-sensitive. A once or twice a day update suffices.
Arguably
An imposed, unpredicted reality such as a new and threatening virus can be hard to contend with.
The need to find a positive focus in response to it will be variable. Some people are not easily distracted by it.
But for the people for whom the threat potentially posed is a disproportionate diversion, consciously seeking alternatives to focus upon is worthwhile.
This general principle can be extended to a lot of the disruptions to anyone’s life.
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