and may you in your innocence

On Saturday night it was bashment, on Sunday afternoon it was Bach. But it is always music.

Even in a pandemic our expectations of each other have not changed; or perhaps, they’ve become more intense. But sheltered in place does not mean endlessly available; staying at home does not correlate with “nothing to do”.

I remind myself - not often enough, because I am still myself - that this means stopping, pausing, resting, sleeping, doing nothing, not being “productive”, not being immediately responsive, not being apologetic for any of the above. I remind myself that news might not stop happening but people need breaks. I am remind myself that these reminders apply to me, too.

As often as work can be invisble, so too can the truth of someone else’s reality be obscured. I do not know how anyone is holding up. I do not know what is keeping everyone going. I know how I am managing, minute by minute, day by day. I know that sometimes I am not.