Hope Notes: Tightrope

Are things getting better or worse right now?

It’s tough to tell when you’re mostly sitting in your house. We take a lot of social cues from the people and community around us. Without those cues, we’re left with what we can see from inside - television, online news, the people in our household. We might notice the traffic level on the street outside and guess as to what it means.

We’re walking an emotional tightrope these days: Worried about the chances of getting sick, but already suffering from cabin fever. Overwhelmed by the numbers of cases, but mostly lacking any evidence we can see with our own eyes of what’s happening. This is a silent, invisible crisis for most people, most of the time.

It’s important we not give in to a nostalgic desire to go “back to normal” right now, out of boredom or confusion. We have a long and difficult road to recovery still ahead.

The real work of hope, the work of choosing to take care of ourselves and each other in spite of our doubts and fears - that work is really just beginning for so many of us.

We have each other. That’s all we need.

Road to Recovery

As of yesterday, there are at least 1,238,453 people worldwide who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have fully recovered. This is an increase of 267,780 since our last edition. We broke 1 million recovered in the official stats! An unknown number more have encountered the virus on their own and made a full recovery.

We hope for peace in the lives of those who are actively suffering right now, and we hope for strength in the lives of everyone who has lost a loved one or friend in the midst of this crisis. We hope for some rest for all of the healthcare workers and first responders where the current wave of cases has peaked and is on the decline.

Good Moves

How people are practicing generosity, ingenuity, and love around us right now.

Brian DeLay @BrianDeLay

In 1847, impoverished Choctaws scraped together sent $170 to send to victims of the Irish potato famine. Some Irish remember Indigenous generosity, & have sent nearly $2million to the Navajo and Hopi Nations fighting Covid-19

nytimes.comIrish Return an Old Favor, Helping Native Americans Battling the VirusIn 1847 the Choctaw people sent $170 to help during the potato famine. Irish donors are citing that gesture as they help two tribes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rex Chapman🏇🏼 @RexChapman

These young men in Miami loaded up their car with food, then went to feed the homeless in Overtown - Miami. Humanity.🌎❤️

Greg Hogben @MyDaughtersArmy

'A new Banksy artwork has appeared at Southampton General Hospital in the UK. It shows a young boy kneeling by a wastepaper basket. He has discarded his Spiderman and Batman model figures in favour of a new favourite action hero - an NHS nurse.' #NationalNursesDay

Are You Not Entertained?

The industry of dreams is still out here hustling.

My inner 10 year old is struggling not to spend his waking hours committing every detail of this course to memory:

kottke.org @kottke

Imagineering in a Box, a Khan Academy lesson from Disney's Imagineering team on how to design theme parks.

khanacademy.orgImagineering in a Box | Storytelling | Arts and humanities | Khan AcademyHave you ever wondered how theme parks come to life? Disney Imagineers from hundreds of career disciplines around the world share how they use a wide range of skills – from story development and conceptual design, to math, physics and engineering – that all come together to create immersive experien…

No audience? No problem. Some theaters are using their marquees to keep people watching movies:

Esther “STAY HOME” Choo, MD MPH @choo_ek

Love this local theatre, which is using its marquee to comment on movies it’s not showing

Then we have the historical costume designer who noticed that the costumes in the ‘80s teen comedy Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure were way better than they needed to be, and is now rating all movie historical costumes by this standard. Click through to see her whole timeline, which is great fun:

The Bill and Ted Test @BillAndTedTest

This is @FourRedShoes Regency screen costume benchmark: the Beethoven scene from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. If a production's main costumes are less well done than those of the extras in a minor part of a 1980s teen comedy movie, we have a problem. PASS OR FAIL?

And Finally…

Keats is a writer, actor, and director (@keatsdidit) who has been posting delightfully goofy short videos on TikTok and Twitter. Here’s his latest - it’s a little sweary in one part, but well worth the ride.

Keats @keatsdidit

If Juice had a meeting

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Be well, everyone.

- Michael

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