Good News, Bad News, Who Can Tell? , livre ebook

Archway Publishing - Don Worth Ph.D.

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173 pages

English

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Description

Lessons of the pandemic are shared through poetry and stories by 18 people from India and the US with space to list lessons you learned.
The title of this book comes from an ancient parable about a farmer who, when greeted with fortune or misfortune has the same retort: “Good news, bad news, who can tell?” The parable provides some simple wisdom in approaching turbulence and catastrophe in life, such as living through a pandemic.
This book offers a variety of touching stories, lyrics, and poems written by people who represent nine categories of those on the frontlines of the pandemic (educators, COVID survivors, artists, clergy, those who lost loved ones, students, physicians, restauranteurs, and journalists) from the U.S. and India, regarding experiences, lessons and wisdom they acquired.
A novel interpretation of the parable is presented as well as a framing (a figure 8) that provides some perspective and guidance as we move through the various trials and tribulations of life, and through challenges of mental illness and substance use.
There is also a chapter “signs of the times” which showcases a variety of creative and amusing signs that were all around us during the pandemic. Even some clever bathroom signs.
The summary outlines lessons learned and wisdom gained by the editor from struggling through the pandemic in rural West Virginia, as a psychotherapist on the frontlines, and from reading the heartfelt stories and poems in the book.
And perhaps the most interesting feature of the book is the last chapter, an opportunity to reflect and write your own lessons, story, poem, and space for your photos to add to the documentation of this experience called “the pandemic.”

Sujets

Santé et bien-être

Santé du quotidien

Vie de famille

Relations familiales

Psychology

India

Informations

Publié par	Archway Publishing
Date de parution	06 novembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781665730723
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Good NEWS, Bad NEWS, Who Can Tell?

STORIES, POEMS, ESSAYS AND LYRICS FROM THE U.S. AND INDIA

DON WORTH, P h .D.

Copyright © 2022 Don Worth, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3071-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3070-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3072-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022917685

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/02/2022
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those who died of COVID, were afflicted by the virus and to those who lost loved ones during this pandemic, for it was your pain and all of your suffering that provided the forge for the wisdom found in this book, and the impetus for this project; to give your lives meaning in our lives. And to us survivors. We have all been changed, affected, moved and have grown from experiencing living in these times. And to my patients who have taught me so much about what it’s like to be human, and who help me see daily the strength, resilience and remarkable fortitude of the human spirit. May the stories, lyrics, poems and experiences shared here provide solace, a guide for future struggles and provide inspiration and wisdom to facilitate our collective wellness, recovery, and growth.
Contents
Dedication
Introduction
The Parable
Interpretations
Book Outline
Chapter 1: Artists
Manohar Shetty
•Lockdown Song
•The New Untouchables
•Corona Sonnets
•Quarantine Blues
•Haute Couture
•Slow Motion
•Corona Manual
•Games
•Who’s Next?
•Contact
Walter Finley
•Go Jump in a Lake and Other Lessons of the Pandemic
Chapter 2: Lost Loved Ones
Jessie Meisling
•Before
•Before’s Creation: My Personal Experience
Sarabjeet Garcha
•With the Mask On
•Four Poems
–Not a Thing
–Tailor/Bird
–Lamp
–Outsilvered
Chapter 3: Covid-19 Survivors
Smita Agarwal, Ph.D.
•Revenant
•Virus
Kenneth Michael Langston
•‘You Just Never Know…’
Chapter 4: Clergy
Jeff Hanlin
•Unanticipated Blessings
Andy Fraenkel
•Living In The Kali-Yuga
Chapter 5: Educators
Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar
•Learning and Unlearning Through the Pandemic
Morgan Gulley
•“Alright Y’all, Be Safe and Be Good People” Lessons of an Educator
Chapter 6: Students
Summer Aguiar
•College Daze
Suhani Malhotra
•Lessons Learned In Covid Times
Chapter 7: Journalists
Nabina Das
•Zen and the Art of Share-Auto Rides: Pandemic Notes
M. Lee Roy Harvey
•The Life You’ve Been Gifted
Chapter 8: Physicians
Bruce A. Gorby, M.D.
•Group Therapy
Ayush Sharma, M.D
•Looking Beyond Those Rose-Tinted Glasses
Chapter 9: Restauranteurs
Margarida Tavore e Costa
•The Good and the Bad
Costanza Iaquinta
•2020-22: The Pandemic and My Life Changing Experiences
Chapter 10: Signs Of The Times
Chapter 11: Epilogue
•Good News, Bad News, Who Can Tell?
•Acknowledgments
Chapter 12: Your Lessons
Introduction
My wife, Neelam, and I began 2019 in the Bahamas, bringing in the new year with a friend we had made there, at her church, an old Anglican church, and we returned to the Bahamas to celebrate my sixtieth birthday on their Independence Day in July, the same day as my birthday. We went on that year to see the Grand Canyon and the red canyons of Sedona in Arizona, then on to Doha, Qatar and to Goa, India to celebrate Christmas. We brought 2020 in by attending service in an old church in Goa, India, a tropical paradise with the carnival atmosphere of its Portuguese roots. Landing in the US in mid-January we heard rumblings of a virus spreading, but way over in China, not here.
In March of 2020, we were shocked by the viral nature and the mystery of this Novel Corona Virus and how it seemed to be all around us, in the air we breathed, on everything we touched. Before there was a vaccine, when we believed it would be years down the road before scientists could produce one, one of our only defenses against this mysterious virus was the stay-at-home order, which began to be decreed all around us. No matter the sacrifice or diligence, people were dying and getting sick at alarming rates. But we “hunkered down” and stayed to ourselves, for weeks, for months, played and ate with each other in our homes, waiting and wondering what was next. Clearly bad news, bad times.
During this early part of the pandemic and our statewide shutdown order, our counseling center stayed open, offering telehealth sessions, as well as maintaining the option to be seen face-to-face (following strict protocols such as waiting in your vehicle and phoning in when you arrive, waiting to be called and invited in, protective facial gear was mandatory for staff and patients, and they went directly to their clinician’s office, which was sprayed with disinfectant after each patient, etc.). We had one of our child psychologists, who is handy with a sewing machine, make facial protective gear for all the staff, and we provided individually wrapped facial coverings for those who didn’t have one.
During this period, several of my patients, overall, were getting better. How strange. Whether they were dealing with depression, anxiety, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, or even substance use issues, their symptoms of illness were reducing. Now, not every one of my patients got better, indeed some suffered more, especially when there was existing domestic violence, chronic isolation or lack of technology.
I began to reflect on, and asked several of my patients to reflect on, contributing factors or behaviors that could be identified. Irrespective of the illness or symptoms, many of the practices were similar: families playing board games and doing puzzles together; families working concertedly on home or landscape projects; families preparing, eating, and cleaning-up after meals together, some learning to cook for the first time, and delighting in the novelty; fathers, parents were more involved in their children’s education given that many parents were working from home and children were doing tele-education; families were spending more time interacting with and getting to know each other; couples holding hands and strolling around their yard; and one family, usually busy and stressed with dance classes for each of the children during the work week, began having the children give their parents dance lessons at home!
Folks living alone were learning to use the internet and social media or reading religious texts, praying more, or looking into the proverbial abyss and finding character and resources developed no other way; neighbors were intermingling and getting to know each other or checking in and offering assistance or simply a kind word (from six feet/ two meters or further); and folks rising to help complete strangers with such tender mercy it brings tears to my eyes literally. No wonder they were getting better when the world was getting sicker.
While certainly heartened by their recovery, when the vaccine arrived, we all expected good news was here to stay. Hallelujah! Great news, right? Nope, the controversies grew, as did the politics of mask wearing, of getting vaccinated, and of the loss of freedom and rights. The good news was not so good. Mandates, closures, essential-workers-only, proof of vaccination status etc. all followed. Then another wave and more closures, virtual schooling, work-from-home, and more uncertainty.
Then it’s suddenly all better. Must be. You look around and see maskless people, crowds again, traffic, shops, restaurants and sport facilities open and we rejoice at the activity. Yet, at the same time we feel the dissonance of conflicting information about a new variety, that’s even more contagious, and of rising rates of COVID-19. When the shutdown orders were finally lifted, folks began to slide right back into doing more than being , a return to atomization with each one doing their own thing in close proximity, commuting and traveling to/from work and school, families eating on the run and separately, and my patients not only returned to pre-pandemic levels of illness but many were worse off.
Whew, so what have been the