Coronavirus is Hard to Fight, Corona Blues Aren’t

Last week I went to a couple of supermarkets and while I was concerned by the lack of stock on shelves what really distressed me was the lack of smiles on faces. It seems the anxiety and self-protective instincts have kicked in with the spread of the virus have brought with them a bad case of what I’ll call Corona blues.

The symptoms of Corona blues are: difficulty in smiling, avoidance of eye contact, reluctance to converse, and suspicion towards other shoppers.

At home, isolated with family, it shows itself in easy irritation, snappiness, the endless “whys” from small children, “I hate living in this family” from teenagers and the semi-silent harrumphs from mums, dads and other carers.

Here is the Chaplain’s prescription to stave off the Corona blues:

Everywhere you go

Smiles

At least three times an hour (and include your eyes), and especially when you pass a stranger.

Eyes

Lift them from your shopping or your work regularly and look for something lovely and heartening around you.

Sweet words

Sprinkle positive speech into all your chats, physical and electronic. Reinforce this by minimising the negativity in your conversations so as to not reinfect yourself.

Kindness

Be proactive in kindness: allow people to go before you at checkouts, bring your neighbour’s bin in from the kerb, offer to drop milk, bread, etc. at the door of elderly neighbours (this can all be done while easily maintaining social distance and hand washing/sanitiser protocols).

Together at home add to the above.

Patience

Needs to be liberally practiced every day. It seems the more we love each other and the more cooped up we are, the more we irritate each other. It’s natural, but patience is the antidote.

Consideration

This is preventative medicine. Nearly every family member does things that irritate other family members, and often they are insignificant and require a tiny effort to fix. Children, pick up your dirty clothes and put them in the laundry. Teenagers, hang the wet towel on the bathroom rail, and turn the music down. Dads, stop hogging the remote (or the best TV). Mums, you don’t have to do anything, you’re perfect.

Faith

The fastest path to the Corona blues is to constantly look inwards. The cure for the blues is to look beyond yourself to a person or a system that promises and delivers hope and comfort. For me, as a Christian, it is God who expressed His love in His Son, Jesus. In the College we have many Christians, but we also have many families with a wide variety of faith perspectives. Whatever yours is, take some time everyday to meditate on the hope it promises you and take in the comfort it offers you.