I share these thoughts. I  am, in fact, a practicing physician, board certified in infectious disease and internal medicine, as well as a writer and artist.

I am hoping that the experience of Coronavirus will not be limited to the blow by blow details, the endless talking heads on the T.V. news, but, will be also read as a symptom of a pervasive illness to which we as a human race are in danger of succumbing. Some of us will die from the virus, others will fall ill and recover, others will watch, asymptomatic, but, saddened and wearied by our inability to help. I hope that those who do survive will see the world and their place in it differently, just as a person recovering from a long, potentially fatal illness sees differently. We are all in this together. We are linked to the planet and each other and animals and insects and all creatures down to the bacteria in our guts. Science can help us figure out how to get back into balance, but, a willingness to take a really hard look at ourselves and a sincere willingness to make a better future for everyone (especially everyone “other”) is fundamental. This is a wake up call. We may not have another chance.

“Moments there were, when out of death, and the rebellion of the flesh, there came to thee, as thou tookest stock of thyself, a dream of love. Out of this universal feast of death, out of this extremity of fever, kindling the rain-washed evening sky to a fiery glow, may it be that Love one day shall mount?” last lines of Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann