Good morning!
Friday again. Yesterday was a rough day with my daughter, so we’ll have a LOT
to talk about with her counselor today. I also have a library book on hold that
will hopefully help me be able to help her with some of her more challenging
behaviors, so fingers cross that it comes in sooner rather than later!
It’s another
week where things are tough out there. The January 6 hearings last night were…a
lot. I watched while knitting, and listening to people describe the awfulness
of that day, while I remembered how I sat here on my chair, just absolutely
stunned at what was going on and how people could be like that, was just a lot
to watch. I’m looking forward to this Shabbat and taking some time off the
computer. It’s very much needed this week.
Here's what I
found interesting online this week!
American
gun violence has immense costs beyond the death toll, new studies find
This isn’t new information. The numbers and
totals may be new, but all of this has been known for years. I’ve read stories
of people who have been paralyzed by random shootings and they end up basically
homebound because they can’t afford a car that can accommodate their wheelchair
(and thus they can’t work), or it’s too difficult to get their wheelchair out
of their second-story apartment (and they can’t afford to move), and so they
just never leave (and thus they can’t work if their job isn't one that can be done at home). There’s lost work hours, lost
potential, expanded healthcare costs, pain and suffering, broken relationships,
PTSD, the list goes on and on. And what will we do about it? Likely nothing. I
just don’t understand.
Another
hideous act of violence by people who just won’t leave us alone.
I feel so
sorry for people who live their lives so full of hatred that even trees are too
much for them to handle. What kind of pathetic wasteland must their minds be? Think
of all they’re missing out on, all the beauty and wonder that life could be, all
they could learn and experience, and they’re choosing to fill those moments
with hatred instead. What sorry lives they must lead.
How
widespread is long COVID? It’s put millions of US adults out of work, expert says
Here’s another
rebuttal to that flimsy ‘nO oNe wAnTs tO wOrK’ narrative: there are a lot of
people out there whose health has been ruined by COVID and who cannot work
anymore (and I’m sure we all know how difficult it is to get disability. It
took my cousin, who has a feeding tube and is at risk of constant infection and
who usually spends several MONTHS per year in the hospital, over two years to be
approved for disability, and of course she was initially rejected, even though
her doctor said under no circumstances could she continue working. I remember reading
one story about a family who received their family member’s rejection for
disability two days after he died). People are really suffering from long COVID
– I have multiple friends across the country who are dealing with this – and yet
we continue to let the virus spread like there are no consequences. What on
earth is this going to do to our workforce long term? What will it do to our national
security? We’re playing with fire here, and we’re all going to end up getting
burned.
What a lot of
bleak news this week. I’ll leave you with an antidote:
Cultivating
Jewish Courage (Ometz Lev)
Ometz
lev, or ‘heart strength,’ is the Hebrew
phrase for courage. And courage isn’t being fearless; it’s being scared and
still doing the right thing.
With so many
people hell-bent on othering marginalized groups, banning books, stripping away
rights from people just trying to live their lives, forcing people to suffer
and not lifting a finger to alleviate it, it can be difficult to speak up and speak
out against their bad behavior. It’s scary being the first or the only person
to speak up, but there are so many people throughout history who did do the
right thing, who acted from a place of ometz lev, that provide us with
inspiration to do what’s right.
And that’s
all for this week! We also have my daughter’s hearing test this afternoon. She’s
less than thrilled about it, but since she hasn’t had once since she was an
infant, she’s past due. (No real concerns; we had some questions last year
about how she was hearing certain vowels, but beyond that, I just realized her
last hearing test was likely when she was a newborn. They usually do them in
school, but with COVID, everything’s been screwed up.) Two appointments today,
which makes for a busy day, but sometimes it’s just nice to get out of the
house!
Wishing you a peaceful weekend. Stay cool out there! Shalom, friends. : )
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