“I look at Facebook and the news every day and I try not to get upset by what is happening in our country. But I am scared. I wonder if that is everyone.”
This post, written by a friend of mine and heartbreaking in its honesty, really made me think – is it everyone? After all, as we are so often reminded, these are unprecedented times and so many systems appear to be broken that it’s easy to feel that repairing them all might be out of the question.
I don’t have a solution to the many problems our society now faces – how to end the pandemic, create social justice and overhaul our education system. And I don’t know how to end the fear that these looming issues create.
But I do have a suggestion, it comes courtesy of my friend. She proposed, “[M]aybe if everyone just admits they are scared too it could comfort us that we are not alone.”
So, with that in mind, I asked people: what do you fear most right now?
Our fears:
“[T]otal civil unrest… I don’t want to live in lawlessness with roaming gangs that take advantage of the weak.”
“I’m being induced on Monday and am afraid for the physical, social, and emotional health of my son as we raise him in this world… With an increase in COVID and a decrease in respect and common sense, I fear one of his grandparents, aunts or uncles, cousins, or even a parent will die before he knows them. Worse yet, I’m afraid he’ll contract it himself and be killed before he has had a chance to live or be so heavily impacted by it, he will never know what it means to be healthy. I’m also afraid to raise him in a world so divided and full of hate… How will this economy and national state of mind impact his future?”
“[S]ome days I despair of ever having Americans be willing to endure inconvenience of masks and social distancing long enough to let us get it under control, so we can open again.”
“I feel so much sadness and lost faith in our fellow citizens. I worry for our future.”
“Travel feels scary…”
“That I’ll be accosted or yelled at for protecting myself in a mask.”
“[I]t is a shame that our national leaders are so influential in the dissemination of fake news… I really think our democracy is threatened.”
“[G]etting sick or losing someone close to me. I’m also very afraid of the divide in America.”
“I know truly intelligent people on both sides of the chasm who have allowed emotion to hijack rational thought and research.”
“I fear the division created between people now, between families, will last for years.”
“I fear we’ll be driven out of our hometown due to the drastically rising home prices.”
“I fear the long-term mental stress today’s world is putting on our kids. I worry about the lost opportunities…”
“[W]ill I ever hug my grandkids again? This social distancing thing is just not the same.”
“Afraid for my children… Afraid for the forced unemployment of single parents who have to choose between their children’s education and a roof over their heads. Afraid for division in our communities… Afraid that I can’t be pro-police without being called a racist, and pro-Black lives for equality without believing in a movement.”
“I’m scared the kids not going back to school… will lead to further depression and social anxiety…”
“Not knowing when the pandemic will end, not really knowing potential long lasting effects of the COVID virus…Not knowing how we will recover economically.”
“I’m afraid that my family won’t get to meet our baby when he is born in November. I’m afraid of massive economic collapse and not being able to provide or be provided for and being without healthcare. I’m afraid that our government is going to turn into a dictatorship. I’m afraid that Oregon is on the cusp of massive death due to coronavirus and that three months from now, when we all know someone close to us that has died, people will see it was mostly preventable. I’m afraid of permanent division and severed bridges between groups of people because of the unwillingness to see things another way. I’m afraid of [my husband] going back to school to teach… and getting sick and dying, or having long term health complications, or not being able to be present for the birth of our first baby, or the first little bit of his life, due to COVID.”
“My fellow Americans are scaring the heck out of me. I have never seen so much cruelty and willful ignorance masquerading as ‘toughness’ in my own country.”
“I fear that we will never put an end to racism and that our kids still won’t see in their lifetime a world with true equality for all people.”
“Once upon a time, I had a nebulous fear of dying alone… It feels neither nebulous nor far-fetched now.”
“I fear Oregon being shut down again…Think of how this has impacted those who were close to retirement who can no longer retire, those of us who will have to work many more years if we will ever be able to retire, the elderly who have locked themselves away, and are missing out on life’s precious moments… some of them delaying care for ailments out of fear, sometimes waiting until it’s too late for treatment and recovery (fear can be a silent killer, a factor many don’t discuss).”
“I am very concerned for the world my precious grandbabes will be living in as adults. There is so much political unrest and such a grave divide between parties… I also am fearful of this virus and the impact on our world, even if we find a vaccine, do we have the right to force folks to take it, no… Most of all I am sad about the racist issues in our town, state and USA. We all are people, with hearts. What is going on?”
“[T]he hate and vileness I see on Silverton FB pages and in real life. The absence of compromise or understanding that multiple points of view can exist.”
And then, because I couldn’t leave it there, I asked – what gives you hope?
Our hopes:
“I have hope that people will learn from this.”
“[M]y first child/daughter [is] on the way… I look forward to the things she will show me and teach me. She gives me hope that beautiful things are still in the works…”
“I believe people are good and with assistance from others can overcome hate and anger.”
“[T]o see my students again… I miss their goofy personalities and their even goofier faces. I love their questions… They have always made me laugh.”
“My dad had a racquetball size tumor removed from the center of his brain weeks ago and he’s doing awesome… So listening to one of his stories I’ve heard a thousand times brings me joy again.”
“Through adversity comes hope and growth… Something in this country is off balance and people are starting to fight back and stand up for their freedoms. That’s hope and that’s joy.”
“[S]cience. Not always optimistic, but always realistic. Blended with an abiding faith in humanity’s ability to rise to a challenge…”
“[T]he scientists that I know who are working around the clock to find us a treatment and vaccine for COVID…
My hope is also in the medical professionals who are finding more and more ways to keep people alive.”
