Susan Corso's Blog — iAmpersand

Day 10: Virus Economics & How to Stay Generous

Two U. S. senators, privy to closed-door briefings, profited by selling off stock in industries that would be affected by the virus. One of them invested in a technology that allows people to work from home. As Mr. Leonhardt wrote, “They could have made a difference, but they made a profit.” Okay, that’s enough. That’s enough. We get it. The coronavirus will have an effect on the world economy; we’re already seeing it at home in the U.S. Okay. I am afraid, but I’m not. Every single client I have has either cancelled or postponed their appointment. No one knows what’s going to happen.

Authors Give Back: Free Books!

So, just when we were pondering the best mechanism to make some of my books available for free during this time of fear, Smashwords came up with Authors Give Back and we jumped on it! Here are the URLs for three of my books absolutely free for the next month!

Day 9: Runaway Train Brain & The FourSquare Blessing

Two of the three persons in my household got up this morning having had no sleep. I don’t mean sleep lite either, I mean, none. Both of them had to go to work today. One of them was troubled by dreams. It happens. The other’s runaway train brain ruled the roost right before bed and, by following her own train of thought, she concluded her way into the utter collapse of healthcare—where she earns her livelihood. Ouch.

Day 8: Social Distancing is a Cruel Misnomer

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Thank you, Charles Dickens. Could there be a better opening sentence to describe our current situation? Only this one a friend sent me from LitHub.com rewriting first sentences of great literature for social distancing. My favorite was, “FaceTime me, Ishmael.”

Day 7 The Spiritual Bypass of Fear

The fear that is leading our experience of reality at the moment is, you might be surprised to learn, a form of spiritual bypass. Startling, isn’t that? The Narcissist-in-Chief, the Denier-in-Chief, the Toddler-in-Chief, or whatever other nickname you choose, has taken the practice of rewriting history to its dark underbelly. The thing of it is, as any good metaphysician knows, if we don’t rewrite history, to borrow from philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Day 6 Social-Distancing and the Wearing of Masks

The latest buzzword by my lights is social-distancing. Honestly, it makes me laugh. The powers that be are recommending social-distancing as one of three strategies to slow the spread of the coronavirus at the same time as article after article in The New York Times laments that we are culturally in the midst of an epidemic of loneliness. Beloved, we’re already socially-distant. How many real friends do you have? My definition of a real friend is someone who, if I called them using my one phone call from a jail in Peru, would they move heaven and earth to get me out?

Day 5 Juxtapositions, or, The Way We Were

There is, in old-time metaphysical circles, an analog technology—if you’ll forgive the oxymoron—known once upon a time as Denial and Affirmation. It’s a simple but slippery concept, especially now that denial has become part of our standard recovery lexicon in the West. Denial, as they say in AA, is not a river in Egypt. Nor is that what the founders of Christian Science, Unity, Religious Science, Science of Mind, or Divine Science meant. They meant to deny the appearance of something in favor of using one’s will to choose something better.

Day 3 The Longer Table Option

My spiritual teachers are legion, and they often arise in the oddest places. Take this morning, for example: I have been a fan of Mary Engelbreit for decades. It is my custom to have a page-a-day calendar of hers that displays her prodigious illustration artistry. Mary Engelbreit understood sound bytes even before they had a name. She’s used quotes that inspire her for decades. This morning’s read: If you are more fortunate than others, it’s better to build a longer table than a taller fence.

Day 1 Someone Has to Speak to the Fear

In the space of twenty minutes this morning, I scanned The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and a newsletter from my primary care doctor’s practice. All three made me long for the days when I was certain that The Times really was, by their own report, “All the News that’s Fit to Print.” It might be. Or, it might not.

On The Other Hand News, PandemicSusan CorsoMarch 12, 2020coronavirus, COVID-19, Fear