THREAD

This pandemic lockdown will continue until at least summer 2021.

There is absolutely no "return to normal" ever again.

What we are living through now is now the normal.
Get used to it.

It's terrible, frustrating, scary and numbing.
But we have to find a way through it.

Eventually, in probably 10 months, we will finally have a handle on the deaths.

People will continue to die, but the death toll will be smaller, because the lockdown will be larger.

The only way to stop the virus spread is to halt all human contact until there is a cure.

A cure is a long way off.
And so, #StayHome is going to be our reality for a long time.

Most pandemics endure for many years, because people get impatient and resume interactions, and thus the virus just keeps infecting people again.
It will take several years to run its course.

We all need to accept that truth and face the facts.

We are going to be stuck at home for a very long time.

No one likes this, but this is the awful losing hand we've been dealt.

But there is some good news:

Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, said:
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."

Humans are creative and clever and tenacious and resilient. Through history we have regularly and impressively solved many very difficult problems.

(For the time being, at least for the purposes of this thread, let's ignore the fact that we have caused 99% of those difficult problems ourselves.)

Humanity has survived plagues like this before. We (at least those that don't die) will, in some semblance, nevertheless prevail.

I'm confident that the scientists and doctors and healthcare professionals -- and government leaders (i.e. the Democrat ones) -- are smart and capable and committed to finding a medical answer to this crisis.

But until then, in the 2 year meantime, what about our daily lives?

As we struggle as a civilization to survive this scourge -- and to survive the makeshift stabs we've been taking at surviving it -- now is the time for creativity and ingenuity and true innovations.

We're stuck with this virus until 2024.
So, how can we thrive in spite of it?

After we have accepted this lousy circumstance, we must now turn our minds to overcoming it.

During this difficult and overwhelming moment, we find ourselves with a challenge to rise to.

To put it simply: we, as a society and species, must synthesize lemonade.

So, today, and every day, put your mind to work on finding new ways forward.

We must consider the things we are all missing -- gathering, traveling, working, and playing -- and focus on inventing new ways for people to do these things within the confines of our present reality.

We have an opportunity to entirely re-think and improve how we live each day, from now on.

Yes, there are so many things we can no longer do, ever again.

But there are so many things we haven't even thought of yet.

This pandemic is life now.
How will we live through it?

--MJD