I was watching a cooking documentary the other day of an Indian woman who owns a restaurant in the UK. Normally, I would think about how different her life is from mine and how her perspective on life must be so rich compared to my mid-western, young self. This time was different. Even though our lives don’t slightly compare, we are facing the same global crisis together. I couldn’t stop wondering about how her restaurant and employees were doing. Is she sitting at home just as confused and anxious as me?
It is times like these where it becomes obvious how connected we humans are to each other. Varying races, cultures, and personal beliefs cannot take away from the fact that we are all roommates together on this world. There are ideas and emotions larger than us that bind us at our core: love, fear, survival instincts… the list goes on and on.
I stay at home because I care about my health, my baby’s health, my family’s health, my community’s health, my country’s health, and my world’s health. I may have or carry the virus, and I may not. That’s not the point. I have to honor people’s stories from across the globe that urge us to take things seriously. We owe it to those that didn’t have the chance to stop the spread in time.
I am thankful that those who don’t have the chance to work from home continue to stay dedicated to serving our communities and our people. My heart goes out to those in the medical field, food manufacturing and retail, government workers, manufacturers (even in my own company), and all those that I haven’t mentioned.
I probably do read too many news updates. I probably do worry more throughout my day than I should. What can I say? I’m human.
I don’t really know what my point in writing this was, but I just had a lot of thoughts that needed to come out. All in all, what I guess I’m trying to say is, the next time you want to blame a country or a culture on something, think about how they must feel. It’s time to love each other. Love will win.
