Smoke in Our Eyes

As the familiar expression goes, “hindsight is 20/20”. We now see how fear has reshaped our society in the past year…

These words are from my blog post dated March 29, 2020:

Do you remember the wizard in Wizard of Oz? He used the classic “smoke and mirrors” magic act props to create the illusion of an all-powerful, omnipresent ruler of Oz.

What was his most powerful tool to manage people? FEAR. But when Dorothy’s dog Toto pulled back the curtain, a single little old (but power hungry) man was revealed, frantically pulling the levers to create the giant illusion in the great hall of Oz.

Right now our greatest fear, DEATH, has permeated every day existence with its grim presence. That fear has become tangible in the form of a daily burgeoning number. The monster is growing from a mouse to a roaring dragon right before our very eyes, its yawning mouth ready to swallow us in flames.

Strangely we are putting complete faith in those numbers, even though every country admits there is no consistent testing method and way of reporting the numbers worldwide. It is literally and figuratively “all over the map” globally. (For those not familiar with this expression, the definition from the dictionary: (All over the map, North American informal: in a disorganized or confused state.)

Consider that we are being consumed by something much more dangerous than any biological threat. Fear of death is expanding in the consensual collective mind.

We have the power to vanquish this dragon. We may not have control over the virus, but we do have the choice about our fear. We own it. We have the right to question. As Virginia Woolf said, “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”

When we allow ourselves to be ruled by fear, we become paralyzed, we do not see clearly, and our perception and judgement are clouded. In the final analysis, what you believe and I believe about the viral numbers, our own mortality, and the fate of humanity, could make all the difference in the outcome of this.

Smoke and numbers.