Each day, I see images of deserted streets hiding a masked population behind the confines of their own homes. In my town, here in the southern United States, people are more relaxed, especially in regards to social distancing. It is confusing because doctors and experts are adamant about this particular safety measure. Personally, I can see the benefits of social distancing as a way to prevent infection. But I can also understand the free thinking and gung-ho attitude of the people. I mean, we’re all going to die anyway, right? So what’s the point of running and hiding from yet another virus.
This, as you can see, has created inside of me a startling cognitive dissonance.
On the one hand, I enjoy going to family functions and hanging out whenever I want to. I go to the exercise trail often and sometimes it is packed with people. I feel that I shouldn’t have to change any of my behaviors as long as I wash my hands and take care of myself. I don’t want to force myself to miss anything important to me. I will take the risk of getting sick in order to spend time with the people I love and to go for my weekly runs.
On the other hand, this naive and an unnecessarily dangerous way of thinking has the potential to destroy my health. The dangers of the virus are hammered into my brain daily through news clips and social media. When I’m out in public, I do adhere to the safety precautions. I give people wide berths in stores, making sure to give myself the suggested six feet of space, even if most others do not attempt to do this. When I’m the exercise trail, I always move to the opposite side of those coming toward me. I am well aware of the seriousness of the virus and do as much I can to keep myself safe.
So, what do I do? Do I miss family functions and stay away from places I frequent? Or do I lock myself behind doors and hide from society as a whole. I keep going back to old adage: We are all going to die anyway, so what is the point in staying home?
Viewing the situation like this presents a host of new existential questions regarding fate and free will and the Creator of the Universe. These are questions that require deep contemplation and will ultimately depend on each individual to come to their own conclusions about existence. If I choose to live my life on the YOLO principle, well then what is the point of doing anything at all? I could drive on the wrong on the highway whenever I wanted to. I could go outside during severe thunderstorms holding a kite. I could go to the local zoo, jump in the jaguar cage and attempt to pet the giant cat. All of these things are ridiculous and doing either one of them would result in death. But during these strange times, hanging out with family and friends can bring forth the same result.
As I write this, I have no definitive answer as to what my decision will be. I know that being social is probably not the best decision for my health. But I also love my friends and family and have no desire to stay away from them form prolonged periods of time.
The only thing I can do is live day by day during this pandemic and make decisions based on what my instincts and intuition tell me.
Jay Owens 