I mean, really, aren’t we done? It feels like we should be done. I am ready to be done. You are ready to be done. My son is ready to be done. Entire countries are Ready. To. Be. Done. Let’s be done.
Yes, I am talking about the pandemic. What else? This tiny creature that has taken over all human life as we know it (does that seem like an exaggeration?), Sars-CoV-2. And by little, I mean infinitesimally tiny. On February 10th, the BBC reported that mathematician, Christopher Yates, had calculated that every Sars-CoV-2 particle in the world would fit inside a soft drink can. Moreover, in that can would be roughly the same number of virus particles as there are grains of sand on the planet. And yet, this little creature, negligible in size and weight, has us all reduced to the four-year old in the back-seat whining “Are we there yet?”
Nope.
Not yet.
We. Are. Not There. Yet.
With increasing frequency, around me I hear these fatigued comments. Signs of weary exhaustion are seen. Tempers are flaring. The waning discipline required with distancing, foregoing pleasurable activities, and living without community in conventional forms is visible.
During a discussion about this the other day, it occurred to me that I recognize this feeling. This feeling of done-ness before the task is completed. In 2019, while on expedition in Canada’s Arctic with the True Patriot Love Foundation, I encountered this same feeling. During the expedition, we spent 9 days on the ice snowshoeing 100km across the Arctic Circle. Each of us pulled a sled with 50lbs of gear. Each day was different in terrain and distance. As part of the preparations, we came to know that on one particular day we would snowshoe 18km. In my mind, I made this “hump day”. Being deeply concerned about stamina to get through that day without burdening my teammates, I set it in my goals that this was IT. Once we finished that day, I was on my way home with the most difficult task completed. In my mind, everything after would be easier after that day.
At the end of “hump day”, I found myself deeply unhappy. Attempting to cover my bad mood (to this day it is unknown if I was successful) I ate my dinner to warm myself, and looked forward to sleep unable to understand the cause for my unhappy feelings despite having successfully completed the most difficult day. Happily, a good night’s rest worked wonders and it was not until many moons later that I understood the cause. Somehow, I had associated completing hump day with being DONE. When it was clear I wasn’t done, disappointment inadvertently set in.
And today? The world has struggled, worked, experienced illness and loss, and maintained discipline to collectively reach the far side of the global pandemic. Science has worked near miracles with the rapid development of vaccines at a record setting pace. Distribution of this life saving medicine has begun here in Canada. And even in the face of the variants of concern, in the face of a third and sizeable wave of infections – there is true light at the end of the tunnel. But hold up, with all the good news why is the fatigue so deeply rooted now? And here it is – because collectively we absorbed the vaccine would mean the end. But we are not at the end – it is only hump day.
We are past the longest trek, the highest hills. But we aren’t done. It is not until populations are sufficiently inoculated to reduce the availability of hosts for the virus that we will quell the spread of the Covid19. Expert forecasts are beginning to speak of late summer and fall for the gradual return to the life with community and travel.
So, we still have kilometers to go putting one foot in front of the other. We still need to mask, distance, stay home and reduce our contacts.
But after a good night’s rest, I can tackle another day. There will be other hump days along the way, but the biggest is done. We just aren’t there. Yet.
Stay healthy my friends.
I will never look at hump day the same – great article Christine!