"The world seems to be teetering on its axis. There is no shortage of dangers and outrages that crowd our mental real estate. Now we have a president with a dangerous disease. What we know is much less than what we don't know.It is hard to remember what normalcy feels like. We see movies or read books from pre-pandemic times and it feels like we are entering a distant and alternate universe. Crowded airports? Extended family? Live music? The shouts on a school yard? Playoff baseball at Yankee Stadium? And on and on.
It’s the end of the workweek, and as we sign off with colleagues and friends we wish a good weekend reflexively, but what does that even mean? How different will a weekend be from the endless churn of our surreal calendar? We try to carve out time and space, but the world of anxieties has a way of crashing in.
I think back to other times of worry and disorientation. I think primarily of my childhood during World War II, when so much hung in a balance where murderous fascisim was ascendent. And I remember people still tried to squeeze out some of the joys of life.
Today, we can’t do a lot of what we did then. We can’t gather with family and friends, at least not in person. We can’t go out to dinner, or a ballgame, or the movies. But we can also try to find moments of peace. I have taken to daily walks, especially now that the Texas summer heat has cracked. I try to read, watch movies, and talk on the phone or through the computer. Call up an old friend or family member this weekend who you’ve been meaning to call. Try to talk about something other than the news, although it’s bound to come up. Try to focus on the human connection.
We are in the midst of a chaotic and perilous moment in American history. We have had those before. What has saved us in the past has been our resolve, our resourcefulness and our common humanity. We need to channel those traits once more in this moment of need.
Have a good weekend." -Dan Rather