There is talk in the news about a "second wave" of COVID-19. I have to ask myself, "What second wave?" We're still not off the first. COVID-19 took hold of society only a number of months back and is continuing its expected slow inexorable spread. The good news is that hospitals seem to be managing the continued spread better than before and perhaps there's less virulence than in the early days of outbreak in Wuhan and Italy.
But nonetheless it's still spreading and it's a bad disease to get. Again, as I alluded to in my prior blog (COVID-19: Where are the Answers?), you can't just assign an arbitrary date in your mind for things to magically appear better. Doing so is The Emperor's New Clothes, a delusion that what we wish to see is actually reality.
I confront this daily in my work on mortality. People do not want to see things for what they are, whether good or bad. People use reality as a means of building their own ego, of fulfilling their own agenda. They can't see a pandemic or death for what they are, reminders of our impermanence and fragility. They must see them as different, able to be manipulated and controlled - because otherwise we're not as irreplaceable as we think we are.
No, there is no second wave. And controverting reality does pose a problem. When you don't see reality correctly, when you don't accurately assess the situation around you, when you project yourself upon the world and expect it to conform to you, you will be disappointed. Real meaningful change can only come out of a balanced assessment of life and yourself. Anything else is just wearing no clothes.
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