Correction: Covid

I made a mistake

Hi dear ones,

I made such a big mistake on the last article I sent out — Covid brain on being trustworthy — that I decided the best way to remedy my error was to write a follow up. Please bear with me as I still have exhausted Covid brain. I’ll do my best, and really want to be with you all in this important conversation, so share your thoughts below. We all don’t have to agree, and I wanted to share my beliefs on community care and Covid / other contagious creepy crawlies.

Several of you commented (thank you) wondering why and how I was traveling while I had Covid. In my Covid brain fog it didn’t even occur to me to share the precautions I take when I travel, how important they are to me, and why.

I apologize for the mistake. It made it seem like I casually travel while ill. I do not want to give that impression, as community care and being mindful are huge values for me. I went back and edited the website version of the article and put a photo into the article to show my being masked, but I wanted to also write a more extensive correction here.

I don’t see Covid as just a cold or not big deal. I have had many of my friends have immense impacts from Covid (or other viruses): ongoing fatigue, pain, eroded joints, neuropathy, complete loss of sexual drive and function, ongoing brain fog, immune systems being wiped to name just a few. I have also experienced long Covid with months of exhaustion and feeling like I had a concussive brain injury. I did have a brain injury: Covid. It was a long recovery where I had to stop writing, working on the computer or straining my brain. I was blessed to find an acupuncturist who had a protocol to help me heal, and that I had the resources and the team to allow that to happen.

What may be a casual cold or Covid or the flu to one person can completely change the trajectory of someone else’s life.

Which means community care is being as mindful and conscientious as we can be when we are sick or have been exposed.

I want to share with you both the steps I take when I am traveling, and also what I did on my recent trip home knowing I had Covid. I’m not sharing this as a defense, but for transparency.

The point of sharing this with you is for us all to understand everything we do has consequences. I believe we are responsible for understanding consequences and making choices that include the well-being and care of others.

- I wore a well-fitting N95 mask at all times

- I sanitized my hands often

- I upgraded my ticket to first class so I would have more of a buffer and not be right next to someone on the plane

- On public transport I sat by an open window close to the front of the bus

Some of you will think I did not do enough, that I should have not traveled at all. Some of you will think I am being neurotic and going way overboard. Some of you may agree with me.

---

Yesterday I was scheduled to teach at the Woodstock Awakening Festival. I let the organizer know I was still testing positive for Covid, and asked about the place I was teaching. It was outside, with a microphone and space between where I would be and the audience.

I slept most of the day, then woke up two hours early to get ready and slowly walk the mile and 1/2 to the venue. I stayed masked even while outside. When it was time to teach I let everyone in the audience know I was positive for Covid, so if they wanted to move further back they should. I used the microphone. I then masked up again right after my talk and with consent hugged people who wanted a hug and waved to others who wanted distance.

Then I slowly walked the mile and 1/2 back to my Airbnb.

This morning I canceled a meeting with a friend that I really, really wanted to see. She has had health struggles and I didn’t want to risk exposing her, even if we met outside. I told another friend who is immunocompromised that I couldn’t meet her for tea. Another friend offered to bring me food; I let her know I was fine. I’m spending the day in bed.

---

That is what I see everywhere I travel: people rarely wear masks on public transport, even if they have been exposed or are actively sick. I always wear a mask when I travel as a precaution. And I also am aware that even with my care once we start a group it is possible one or more of us may bring Covid or another virus into the group. That is the risk.

As a teacher and someone who travels and brings groups together I had to make some big choices once the lockdown lifted. Should I continue to teach? Should I travel? Should I still hold live events? After much soul searching I decided that doing live events and being together is vital. I know there are risks. My intent is to minimize exposure for myself and others. And I still travel, and teach, and bring people together, which both enriches and nourishes and exposes us all.

Here is the fundamental contradiction that we all must wrestle with in our own way: minimizing risk vs engaging with risk. We want to increase our understanding that the consequence to putting ourselves at risk is very uneven: some of us are immunocompromised and have to fiercely minimize risk, while others of us don’t even believe there is any risk. But there is. I believe in kindness, and compassion and the importance of community working together to help protect and support the more vulnerable.

My prayer is that we stay community-minded and understand that our choices have impacts. I apologize for neglecting to share this in my last article.

Due to brain fog I’m not saying this as well as I would like to; I hope what I am trying to share is coming through. What are your thoughts on community care, individual choices, and the contradictions of risk and well-being? Again, we don’t all have to agree. As we share our experiences my hope is that we learn from each other and see the different facets of experience that may be different than our own.