I believe that medicine’s potential is much more than the version we see in the world today. A doctor should be an educator with the goal of bringing patients to a place of deeper understanding of who they are in the world. To me, medicine is ultimately about self-empowerment through self-knowledge and growth.
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today we take a moment and acknowledge that the Pandemic will end. Yes, at some point soon we are going to be saying goodbye to the Pandemic. We need to start to face that fact.
I would have to acknowledge the 2019-22 Pandemic of SARS CoV-2 and its band of variants is not well. The clock is running out. It is nearing its end. Natural immunity is skyrocketing which doesn’t bode well for the Pandemic’s ability to stay viable.
In addition, recent markers show the latest variant’s surge is peaking in the Northeast and mid Atlantic. The south will follow and the west will be along shortly thereafter. Experts are predicting plummeting case loads over the next weeks in our region and beyond. In Massachusetts it’s almost 100% Omicron now. This is a game changer. Come March we will be in a different era. We will be thinking different thoughts.
The Pandemic is dying. We have to face the facts. It’s becoming quite clear. I’m not sure anyone else will do it, so I thought I would start working on the eulogy for the Pandemic. With your permission I’d like to run it by you.
Thank you.
Now, picture yourself in your favorite, quant, countryside chapel, the service is about to begin…
Pandemic, we are here to say our goodbye’s. Your time has come. We are laying you to rest.
Pandemic, you were hard for us to understand. There was so much misinformation and chaos about you. You relentlessly enveloped the world and held us hostage. You made us face death, and you broke us down. You were accompanied by a hoard of villains. You robbed us of so much. You stole our routines and forced new practices on us. You incited our anger. You exposed our weaknesses. In many ways, you provided a mirror, and it’s been tough.
Pandemic, we realize that above all you were an obstacle. And like all the other obstacles in our lives we are better off because of you. It is in the overcoming of you that we gain experience and grow stronger. So in the end, we are grateful for you and for the lessons you shared with us. We are grateful for the wisdom in the world that allowed you to disrupt us. We thank you for the main lesson you brought us: that we must face our challenges and go through them; no avoiding will do, we must go through.
We know deep down our greatest moments come in the face of adversity. We know only through our blunders do we open the door to the power of redemption. It’s easy for us to forget, but we know the truest riches come with our development.
And just as we are grateful for you we are grateful for each other. Please know we are really trying to remember that each one of us is doing the best we can with the circumstances that we’ve been given. And to that end we pledge now to do our best in life and give each other the benefit of the doubt. So long, Pandemic. Many blessings on your journey. Wish us well in our further conquests of growth.
I realize it may be wishful thinking to write an eulogy for the Pandemic today. However, we are going to be changed forever by these years. We will have to wean ourselves off our pandemic way of thinking and being.
The best advice is still to avoid crowds and gatherings for the next several weeks. Continue your exposure mitigating practices. We still have much to get through. I’m just acknowledging that this is the final stretch. It’s not just my humble, unapologetically optimistic opinion, but it’s shared by others as well, the ivory tower types. Hang in there. A new time will come, with its unique challenges and growth opportunities.
