Breath of Fresh Air

 Has the world gone crazy? The latest foolishness is vie-ing one Province against the other for virus count cases. BC has lost its place as the winner apparently in once having the least number. Oh dear! What kind of reporter digs up topics like this? While  reporters are said to report, supposedly, it begs the question, do they also colour and embroider on their chosen subjects. Of course they do. They are writers. Journalism is competitive perhaps more so than most jobs. It's more than an art being a journalistic writer. It's a commitment to the art as well as to presenting subjects that tantalize the public. Selling ink is always the end goal. And that's okay, but into the mix "good taste" is essential. Or so we are told. Sadly, some reporters don't have it, therefore, the poor editor has to make the final decision. Not an easy job. The world at large, needs a breath of fresh air. We need to rise above seeing and reading and hearing the bad news. There's something about us that loves bad news. We kind of crave it, but I hope mainly because we are empathetic creatures who care about each other. Crows, as an example will gather and loudly proclaim their concern when one of them dies. You know what I mean if you've ever witnessed a crow funeral. The black wings appear as if from nowhere and collect in dark clouds to find resting places in which to caw their witness to a mortal ending of one of their fellows. We are slightly akin to this behaviour. These days we are immersed in counting how many deaths, cases and cures there are of the pandemic nightmare we are living world wide. Other recent disasters such as the huge explosion that affected so many people or latterly, mass murders or accidents seem to add further gloom to what is already claiming thousands of lives by the tiny, stubborn virus. We are stuck inside our homes, and if we do go out, have to be muzzled behind masks that are cumbersome and uncomfortable. We fear for our families and their safety from an unseen and unpredictable creature called Covid19. Children are no longer perfectly safe from its clutches and the elderly are in possible as anyone, in danger if venturing into public places. No one knows how, other than staying inside and out of contact,  to  remain perfectly safe from the virus. There is no cure and so far, no vaccine and some people for strange reasons are planning to refuse to be vaccinated even if there is a sure one invented. This flies in the face of all logic to me. Countries are bickering amongst each other over tariffs and borders and immigration and refugees. Oh my, oh my. Don't we ever need a breath of fresh air! And since we are told not to go out into the actual "fresh" air unprotected by bits of cloth on our faces, even that has its limitations. Fresh air? Where can we find it and in what form? It is there, and there is hope. We have minds and choices in how it all works for us. We can rise above in our own minds to think of positives, to read and watch and speak and do what is positive. And millions of the thinking populations are doing just that. They are discovering new  activities that use the oft maligned internet to keep in touch with loved ones. They are smiling and being kind and responsible and taking what they have, however large or small, and projecting their goodness onto and into it. Once deemed petty, the high fashion industry is making stylish masks, commercial outlets are bending to the task of doing business even at a loss, art is reaching out in ways never believed to happen before, education is stretching its own learning to accommodate those hungry for it, militant nations are using personnel to help in fighting an enemy they were never trained for previously, politicians are providing leadership and guidance and ordinary people are kinder and more concerned about spacing and gathering. That's our "fresh air" and it works. We just have to keep on breathing it in.