Just talking with @ConwayLauraB --the last four years, for us personally (with good things like grandson Jonathan coming along and bad things like almost being burned out of our home last year, which was also good because we weren't), and for the country, has been A Lot.

For the most part, on a personal level, the good has certainly outbalanced the bad. Even for the country, till this year, I'd say the good (social and political engagement by progressives, growing political engagement by youth) has almost balanced the bad (Trump, Trump, Trump).

But even so, even before the coronavirus, I feel like we've all been on 24 Hour Crisis Alert since November, 2016. That includes Republicans, who feel socially besieged even while they're winning some battles. We've all been in Crisis Mode.

And now coronavirus. Our already hyperaware state of mind slams into an actual, society-wide existential crisis-- not just a crisis slamming individual groups, like most of the Trump-born crisises, but a true, system wide public assault.

It's A Lot.

Even so, even so, I try to remember that every crisis passes. That's the definition of a crisis--it's a moment in time when forces converge. A peak. A valley. For a writer, it's the moment in a story when the protagonist is confronted with the defining choice.

You've all heard the cliche: 危机与机遇, the Chinese characters for danger and opportunity, are the same. Maybe. We all know people who think they have a tattoo saying "love" that really says "noodle". But the point remains.

Every crisis is an inflection point, a moment of choice, both for us as individuals and as a society. A crisis reveals the truth of things. It forces us to confront ourselves, our beliefs, our core truth. It allows us to know who we are.

This crisis will pass. That's absolutely guaranteed. One way or another it will pass. The other side of the crisis won't be the world of The Walking Dead. It won't be the world of 2019 either.

The last few years have been A Lot. The last few decades, really, have been A Lot. Weirdly, with this crisis, our choices become clearer, and what was A Lot becomes simpler.

Who are we? Who am I? What do I want from my life? What do I want my society to be? What am I willing to do to make that happen?

When we face an existential crisis, all the Bullsh*t falls away. It's a clarifying moment. It can be peaceful too, as the extraneous distractions peel off and we're left with fundamental realities.

Stay safe, use this time to reflect and create a new you. We will get through this and be stronger because we did.

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