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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
It’s thanksgiving tomorrow and I usually travel by Greyhound to visit my brother and his family in Holland MI Not going this year and will spend thanksgiving alone with a bottle of white Zinfandel , a pumpkin pie and my cat Willow. Am thinking of all the things I have lost this year including my sense of safety: my mom, a favorite cousin, the bike trail along Muskegon Lake is flooded, coffee shops closed, public library has pick-up only (thank goodness for that), my writers group disbanded, fear of getting on public transportation and I have no car. And just chatting with people I met during the day in my apartment building, wandering around the city, and hanging out at the local coffee shop. We had our first snow yesterday and it was beautiful but a warm front blew through and it is all gone this morning, Rain and clouds expected today and the gloomy weather does nothing for my mood, And the fear that every persons path you cross could be harboring a deadly virus is unnerving to say the least. I’m emotionally exhausted,
November 26, 2020
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Who do you trust most -- either in the news or in your personal life -- to explain what is going on right now? Tell us about why you trust them.
Honestly, this question is difficult to answer. I tend to critically analyze what the close relatives around me say, given that I often hear strongly biased views-my grandma especially is very socially conservative and does not support abortion. Because of this, she automatically aligns with conservative economic policy (even though she often complains about big business, globalization, etc. which are typically the result of conservative policy.) While I agree with some of what she says, her lack of critical analysis and tendency to jump to conclusions means I do not usually listen to her completely. My aunt is also a huge conspiracy theorist about things like ANTIFA. She also believes that food allergies are made up and that wearing seatbelts does more harm then good. So, I would say I do not really trust what my close family says politically. This is honestly difficult for me, because I am also a follower of Jesus (as they are) and am often confused by how politicized certain topics involving religion are. I also do not tend to use the news as much, because I know that pretty much every site has some sort of bias. If I do, I'll probably use the NYT or Washington Post. I also tend to rely on academic literature, but that can be limiting given the long process of peer review.
August 30, 2020