Every time a read an article or see an online comment about finding something to savor in our rather unsavory pandemic lockdown, the hopeful message is invariably followed by a barrage of “tone deaf” commentary. Random strangers prattle on that if you find good in this situation, you are speaking from your privileged (affluent, white, educated, WiFi-enabled) vantage and your experience in the corona is a moral failure.

I understand that people are suffering and dying from this virus. Resources are short, money is short, tempers are short. Many businesses will lock their doors and never reopen them. Some families that started this event sheltering together will soon choose to live apart. Students at all levels have had their educations disrupted and some have lost experiences that everyone understood as inevitable--entrance exams, school dances, graduation ceremonies. The ‘rona has postponed weddings, ruined birthdays, and sabotaged holidays. Regardless of the privilege of your vacation, it ain’t happening—you’re not going to Italy and you’re not going to Grandma’s.

But plans get ruined all the time. It’s just that now, everyone’s paying attention. Are we never allowed to pick our way through the worries and injustices of life and find something of value in living? Are we only allowed to see past misery when no one is looking? 

Margaret Atwood published a short piece in Time magazine yesterday encouraging us to “make the most” of our time in the corona. She writes that we are in mid-air, leaping over a moat while being chased by the virus and hoping to land safely on the other side. We should take time to ensure that the things that made our lives worth living— before the ‘rona made us jump—will still be there when we land. She asks, “What should we do while we’re up there, between now and then?”

While I want the shops, organizations, and activities that existed before the corona to be there after the corona, I also want to keep some of the things I am enjoying in the corona. The pursuit of happiness or purpose or significance is not only for those with socially-approved means; everyone is in the corona and everyone is allowed to find light in it.

(Tomorrow: Part 2: The rule of three)