“Screw this virus … Burying people in the hard isolation of the same four walls.”

So said David Brooks in a recent @NYTimes column. If only all American government leaders Would follow the lead of New York State’s Andrew Cuomo in enforcing indoor isolation, which is appearing to show quantitatively what anyone can understand — keeping us away from each other reduces the transmission of the coronavirus. Here in Florida, the governor is encouraging but not enforcing social distancing, and, although the schools, beaches, restaurants, and sporting venues all closed, gun shops and liquor stores are open.

Families cooped up, kids whining, no money coming in, coronavirus statistics dominating the airwaves … Great idea to keep alcohol and guns available.

. “There is a humility that comes with realizing that you’re not the glorious plans you made for your life. When the plans are upset, there’s a quieter and better you beneath them.”

David Brooks, NYT

David Brooks helps me look under the hard shell of society to the better “us.” What I’ve noticed is neighbors being neighborly. We are making eye contact. The drivers who pass me as I’m walking my dog raise a hand. The bicyclists who come at me in the opposite direction veer away and smile at the same time. The man who walks hurriedly with his head down returned my greeting this evening. “Stay well!” I said. “Oh, you too!” He even smiled.

My friend from down the street stopped by for a “six-foot visit.” She called on me. I brought the dog out and we visited for about an hour, time that we’d normally be walking together or exercising in the community pool. We appreciated the time together.

“Most of us are self-distancing at the same time. Most of us are experiencing the same pause in normal life, undergoing deeper reflections inspired by that pause…The absence of social connections is making everybody more ardent for it…Have you noticed that music and art are already filling the emotional gaps left by the absence of direct human contact?”

David Brooks, NYT

From Italians singing from their balconies, to the PBS NewsHour story about Yo-Yo Ma’s #SongsOfComfort, to the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed together but apart, music is coming to our rescue.

“We’ll need a great re-set when this is all over. We need to start planning a great social festival.”

David Brooks, NYT

Begin practicing, today!