My Coronavirus DIARY
BY FLORENCE LEVINE
The night skyline is lit up like
a ‘Lite Brite’ game, sparkling
in the distance against a
black backdrop of sky. The beauty
from my window is in sharp contrast
with the deadly ‘new coronavirus’
that is spreading globally, ravaging
the lives of family and friends, good,
decent people.
We must first pause. Honor loved
ones lost in these past weeks. Pay
tribute to them with heartfelt sor-row.
May peace be with us all.
The world is in the midst of a
massive effort to protect, empower
ourselves from Covid-19 stay away,
by ‘social distancing.’ The news on
my TV screen shows the streets of
Madrid, Lisbon and Moscow right
in my living room, all eerily iden-tical:
desolate, devoid of people.
It seems to me that the threat
came suddenly, - poof! - I’m an
‘instant recluse,’ quarantined! But
in with Netflix, Sudoku, and the
arrival of Buffy's dinner to my door.
It could be worse.
Recently I came across a nostal-gic
‘To-Do’ list:
1. Macy's - return.
2. Post Office-mail package to
my daughter Jamie.
3. ShopRite - organic apples.
Today I replaced that with a
current version, a ‘To-NOT-DO’
list, inspired by Larry David,
the “Master of His Quarantine.”
Maureen Dowd of the New York
Times says, “Our lives now depend
on staying home and doing noth-ing.
So I thought I would reach out
to the world's leading expert on the
art of nothing: the endlessly irasci-ble
man whose mantra has always
been: ‘It doesn't pay to leave your
house- what's the point’ Then he
made two of the best shows in TV
history, ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your
Enthusiasm’ about….nothing.”
Excerpts of the interview:
1. “The best way to stay away
from self- destructive behavior in
quarantine: “Think of it like quit-ting
smoking. You wake up and you
say, ‘I'm not going to smoke today.’
I'm not going to freak out today.’
That's the only way you can do it.”
2. Another thing we might
NOT want to use is his meditation
model: “I'm supposed to be sitting
here repeating this thing over and
over again. Toward what end?”
3. Nor his cure for mental
stress: “If you're depressed or feel-ing
bad about something, he has no
sympathy for it,” says his daughter,
Cazzie. “He’ll just tell you to take
a shower. If it doesn't work, he'll
be like, ‘Just take another one.’”
4. And on social distancing:
Cheryl Hines (who plays his ex-wife
on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’): “I bet
Larry’s in heaven. He's been trying
to social-distance for years.”
Finally, it's “time for Mr. David
to hang up. He had to get back to
doing nothing,” says Ms. Dowd.
Okay, now for some real tips.
Dr. Dean Ornish researched for
40 years, finding four aspects of
lifestyles that BOOST IMMUNITY
and WELL-BEING. His ‘Ornish
Lifestyle Medicine program’
prescription:
1. Eat well: “A Whole
Foods plant-based diet enhances
your immune function. There are
thousands of substances in fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, legumes,
and soy products that are protec-tive
against infections.”
2. Exercise: Move more--
it enhances immune regulation.
Moderate exercise, “just walking
15-30 minutes a day makes a
big difference in your immune
function.”
3. Stress less: Stress suppress-es
the immune system. Those who
have positive emotions-- happy,
pleased, relaxed, peaceful--have a
lower risk of developing even a
cold.
4. Love more: There are
many things we can do to enhance
our immune function to help pro-tect
us. Being lonely is harmful
to our health, but the opposite,
having more social ties spending
time with friends and family, boosts
it, making you more likely to fight
off a cold (or whatever) than those
with fewer social ties. So reach out,
keep in touch, visit with friends
and family--virtually!
Another interesting idea on
dealing with the current crisis
comes from the New York Times
‘Tips for Smarter Living’ column:
‘Start a Coronavirus Diary.’ It feels
good to tell your personal story,
for yourself, or for others to read
down the road.
“It’ll help you organize your
thoughts during these difficult
times, and may help educate future
generations,” says author Jen A.
Miller. “Your observations matter…
jotting down your thoughts and
feelings may also help you make
sense of them and are some rea-sons
you should consider starting
your own diary right now. Even
if you don't think what you're
seeing, experiencing and feeling
is important, it is.”
It's useful both for us personally
and on a historical level to keep
a daily record of what goes on
around us during difficult times,”
says Ruth Franklin, author and
soon to be biographer of the most
famous diarist of all, Anne Frank.
She gives tips to get started if you
can't seem to.
Know your story has value. “We
are writing for ourselves. Write
down ‘jottings’ even,” she says.
“Write multiple times a day
because it's so easy to forget what
happened this morning if you wait
to write at night. The words don't
have to be great, nor a complete
sentence.”
Dawne E. Dewey at Wright State
University in Dayton, Ohio, has
asked volunteers to document the
Pandemic for the library's records.
Some tell her they're just ordinary
The Levine Family
May 2020 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 23