“In these crazy times…”
How many emails and personal messages have we received in the past two months that start off with this phrase? Yes, times are crazy. We all feel it — and around the world we’ve been dealing with this “craziness” in immensely different environments from California, to Japan, to Kenya, and beyond.
From worrying about running out of toilet paper, to standing in line to get into a grocery store for 75 minutes on a Sunday morning, to getting howled by a random man in your neighborhood for jogging without a mask (before it was declared as mandatory) it’s no doubt been crazy times.
I’ve started this series of profiles, “The COVID Chronicles” here on my website to share people’s experiences from across the globe facing COVID-19. It’s inclusive of the struggles we’re all going through, and it showcases the resilience of the human spirit.
Twice a week I’ll be sharing a unique individual’s story. Whether this person is teaching English abroad, running a Safari camp in Africa, or working virtually as a special education teacher — each perspective is diverse and significant, and each brave soul has had the opportunity to take something meaningful away from this crisis.
Many are dealing with loss. I myself am dealing with the loss of my job — and many others are dealing with a sense of loss far more deep for the lives of their loved ones, their safety, and their freedom.
This project has been eye opening in many ways. I’ve seen firsthand the types of grieving people are facing on a daily basis, and it hasn’t been easy — but within the loss there’s always a glimmer of hope that manages to shine through somewhere in their COVID experience.
I’m here to chronicle it. If you’d like to participate in this project yourself, send me a message at “hellomollyannobrien@gmail.com” and we can connect on the details. It’s crazy and painful and challenging, but I know that we’re going to come out of this terrible unforeseen situation stronger than ever before.
