Just Breathe

I've seen a lot of directives to "take a breath" or "breathe through" this situation. People aren't wrong. A deep breath is therapeutic when someone is overwhelmed. That moment of pause. An opportunity to break a mind-induced panic with an interruption forced by the body.

However, it takes on an insidious double meaning for someone who is suffering from COVID-19. SARS (SARS-CoV[-1?]) was, after all, called the "breath taker" when it hit in 2003 (my source is This Podcast Will Kill You). Now, SARS-CoV-2 also goes to work on our lungs. The virus makes the act of breathing harder and harder, until it may become impossible. This is why ventilators have had such a central role in emergency planning.

In fact, the only item higher on our collective list is personal protective equipment (PPE) - with a special focus on face masks. Which brings me to the other side of this. Close contact with sick (and, it seems, infected but well) individuals means we may breathe in the virus and become a host to it. So breathing takes on a new sense of risk even as it literally keeps us alive.

Because of that, I've been trying to avoid and imperative language about breathing. Obviously, we are breathing. Until we're not.

Similarly, innocuous scenes on TV of people talking, touching, or playing are now disconcerting. I've tried to escape into media and feel pulled back into thoughts of social distancing and danger despite my best efforts.

I don't know the best way out of this. More sleep?