A Letter to Coronavirus/COVID-19

by Lisa Capa | March 31, 2020 3:11 am

By Lisa Capa

Dear Coronavirus-COVID/19,

I currently don’t personally know anyone who is infected by you, nonetheless I read and hear about the impact you are having on humankind. The authorities call you a “global pandemic,[1]” and tell me I am to do my part to prevent the spread of you onto my family, friends, community and humankind in general. I am listening to these authorities and doing what I can to help stop the spread.

I also want to listen to you. I’ve read letters and blog posts from others who have written from your perspective. Many are touching and eye-opening. What comes to me as I read about and try to listen to you is a vision I had in 2004 that I call Big Life[2]. It was a pivotal moment that changed my life’s direction.

What I learned in this experience with Big Life[2] is the precious interconnection we have with each other and with some greater consciousness. Interconnections probably include plants and other animals, but I witnessed something specific to us humans.

What touched my heart in that experience was how a person who was not well on the other side of the world impacted all others no matter how remote they were and no matter how well they felt. The vibrations of an ill individual move throughout the world subject to affecting our overall vibrancy. A lower vibrancy affects all of us whether we consciously feel it or not.

As I remember this experience, my thought that I’m not really affected by you like others who are more affected is an illusion. Of course, I’m affected by not being able to be physically close to my family and friends, by not going to teach my grand-niece math at her home, by watching my retirement savings dwindle down. But even as I comply with the stay-at-home order from the Governor, I’m directly affected by you in that our total vibrancy is lower. Our overall vibrancy is subject to being lowered by the ill health of those around the world with COVID-19; as well as by those around the world with stress for their circumstances, with stress for ill ones they may be close to, and with stress for the uncertainty of these times.

Being surrounded by our lower vibrancy of these times, how can I be with that reality and do my part to positively affect this vibrancy while I stay at home?

The teachings of my spiritual practice and my reflections on the Big Life[2] experience help guide me. As I read in the Seattle Times[3] and New York Times[4] about what is happening in the world, it would be easy for me to get stuck into a negative thought pattern: “The Federal Government is not doing enough to help our state to get the medical supplies that we need.” “People are not sufficiently practicing the social distancing guidelines.” “Those people attacking Asians in the US because of what is happening are so ignorant.” And so on and so on. This thought pattern is stressful to me mentally and physically and is subject to negatively impacting our overall vibrancy.

But I can also choose to focus on the inquiry: What is the gift in this situation? The letters and blog posts I have read from your perspective are saying that you are here to slow us down, to invite us to spend time with those close to us, to spend time in reflection, to be out in nature, to find out what really matters. These are all useful things to do and to think about and are subject to positively adding to our overall vibrancy.

What comes to me as I reflect on how I can maintain a more positive thought pattern is to take the time to also listen beyond the usual authorities; to listen to nature and to the surrounding mystery that provides us light that is always available amid difficult times such as these. In that quest to listen at a deeper, broader level, I feel the connective tissue of love, of peace, and of a nurturing holding. Bathed in this energy, I feel the raising of my vibrancy, which positively adds to the overall vibrancy, however subtly.

So, dear COVID-19, as I focus my attention on increasing my vibrancy, I am possibly helping others indirectly. As I talk to my friends and family from this more positive space, I am possibly helping others directly by helping them to touch into this space.

As I wrote earlier, I don’t know of anyone personally who is infected by you. But what if it were to happen to my husband, to my son, to my brothers or anyone in their family, or even myself? Could I keep up this practice of focusing again and again my attention to maintaining a more positive thought pattern? It is easier when I’m not so personally affected. I can’t say for sure that I could easily maintain this practice when I am or someone in my family or dear friends are affected. But what I can say is that I want to, I need to, and I will keep up this practice so that this way of paying attention is strengthened.

Thank you, COVID-19. As infectious as the authorities say you are, I aspire to be captivated more by positivity, well-being and peace.

Sincerely,
Lisa Capa

 

Source URL: https://www.dynamicpeace.life/a-letter-to-coronavirus-covid-19/

---