What About a Logo

A safe diversion while coping during these uncharted days of the Covid.

I HATE BIRTHDAYS.

A good friend celebrated her 36th birthday yesterday. I texted her an early morning Happy, Happy greeting. She was scowling when she sent back those above three-words.

You know what I said, huh? “It’s better than the alternative.”

She replied with a heart-shaped smiley face.

A bit of an intro

Yes, the above exchange has a role to play in this article. But hey…what kind of a storyteller would I be if I didn’t do a bit of lead up!

Two things first. One: Probably, I should have written this article weeks ago. Absolutely I should have. These concerns mentioned below were also top of the brain earlier. However, we were novices in those beginning days of pandemic shelter in place/stay at home. Merely dipping our toes into this new way of living. A smart ass rant about logos wasn’t on the list.

Truth is, at this point, I almost don’t want to write anything about Covid-19. I am, we all are, exhausted and worn out about the topic. Which, BTW, means nothing. This virus doesn’t care. It is not striking any bargains to go off on a trip and leave us alone. At least not yet.

That virus is more likely out there, rubbing its hands in glee, smirking and speaking in a sing-song voice, “ Come out come out, little humans, Covie has something for you.”

I hear your whining. Me too. It’s almost summer. Time to move on, we tell ourselves. We cannot.

Folks, this virus doesn’t give a hoot about the weather.

Don’t be fooled or lulled into complacency. If you look at research on the 1918 Spanish Flu, people adopting the wrong behaviors after the spring of 1918 * paid dearly for it that fall. In deaths.

Two: Rigid classifications of good/bad, ok/not ok do not work at the best of times. Present-day is no different. If it’s possible to mix in a little levity around dark and severe issues, then do it. A few smiles will not erase the need to be vigilant. I took my own advice as I composed this article.

The critical point is this

Reports from credible and respectable science: We, the world, are still coping with a deadly disease. Unprecedented in our lifetimes. We do not have a cure, vaccine or a proven course of treatment. It is playing havoc with our daily existence. By trial and error, amid many constraints, we try to figure out how to go about our days.

The long term, any way you cut it, has some terrifying eventualities. And possibilities.

Therefore, truly any day, birthday or not, is better than the alternative. Staying positive right now, later, and in the future, should be our go-to response. Same thing as saying:

Gosh darn it, I love birthdays!

A rough weekend

I am writing this post on a Sunday evening, the beginning of Week 9 of staying mostly at home, practicing respectful, life-saving rules and…still trying to figure it all out.

Today was one of those um, not-so-great days. I know you know them. I watched my can-do attitude, fizzle. Just like a balloon losing air. A pink one. I do have a thing for balloons of a particular color.

My partner was struggling too. We are, as I write elsewhere, connected at the hip, so to speak. But we felt the strain Sunday, sitting across from each other at our big table, books in our hands. He looked forlorn and said, “Now what?”

Luckily we talked ourselves off the roof, and all was fine. With a bit of effort, maybe more than a bit, we convinced ourselves to bake a loaf of bread and sip a little pinot noir for energy. Well, that worked. Along with a few comments back and forth with a gaggle of amazing Medium friends. We were coaxed away from the dark side of the force.

Whew. Dodged another low period. Because we all know how mixed together the ups and downs can get in these times.

Please don’t get me wrong.

I know how lucky I am to have my health, hang out with a loving partner and be able to work from home. Among other advantages. Daily, I thank all the healthcare, fire, police and the army of other front line workers doing everything in their power to take care of us and make things work better. I grieve for all the families who have lost loved ones to this terrible plague.

Still, this is tough: 1. Absorbing what the experts tell us, as even they figure it out since this is all new. 2. Ignoring the death-wish protesters. 3. Crossing our fingers that politicians will put on the brakes and drive responsibility as they gradually restart the economy. 4. Self serving/smoke and mirrors in ruling political agendas. 5. Hoping that testing ( including antibody testing) becomes accessible at a snap of one’s fingers. 6. The mask-wearing. 7. Wishing to see a surplus rather than a shocking shortage of stores of the protective gear and machines needed. 8. Knowing that scientific strategies will be in place to deal with the future. 9. More staying at home. 10. Ordering, when possible, groceries and medicines for delivery only. 11. Doing without pre-pandemic conveniences. 12. Virtual parties and whatnot.

Folks: Yes, this is a lot.

My list above does not come close to covering everything. It is overwhelming. Yet so important. We still need to do everything around the social distancing and isolation strategies. If there were actual grades awarded for the effort to continue to fight this virus, we need to aim for an A++.

Many of us are complying. Although I recently vented in an article addressed to the coronavirus deniers. Grrrrr. That is a serious grrrr, I am mighty upset with that crowd

Summary: Plain and simple. This was and still is an awful time, “Scaring the daylights out of us,” my Great Grandma June would have said.

It is tough to stay positive every day.

Darn near impossible. Look at my description of my recent Sunday! I don’t know about you, but I try to take each day at a time. Some I wake up feeling great, others I have to work very hard at it. Yet we have no choice but to try to stay on the “sunny side of the street” because it will make the rest of these days easier to bear. Do you know I am particularly talking to myself here?

The big problem is everything we do not know. Do antibodies mean immunity? If yes, for how long? Should any part of the economy be opening right now? How can we actually and safely return to what we knew was normal? Will we ever see that “normal” again?

I saw a post recently describing how a hair salon planned to reopen

The procedure involved: !Masks, gloves, !no hairdryer use. !No possessions taken into the salon by a customer except phone and credit card. !No extras in the service provided. !No beverage ( what? :). !Arrive with hair already washed, wait outside to enter, get temperature checked and answer health questions. !I might have missed a few more precautions on the list.

I get the necessity of this, I do. The issue in my mention is that this is new, people. This virus has changed our lives already, and it is not finished.

Whether things resume slowly or quickly, we have to remain serious and vigilant about what is required of us. For our own health and that of all others. We cannot pride ourselves verbally on our behavior. If at the same time, we make 10,000 exceptions using rationale that we randomly pull out of the air to meet our momentary selfish needs.

Your money or your life.

Further to points about the economy. Please don’t make us choose between money or life. With no life, money is useless.

OK then. Levity time

Given our solemn responsibilities to do what we must to fight this demon virus, this next thing crossed my mind today. My Sunday, like some other days when I was not my cheerful self.

I had an a-ha moment. I should online order a T-shirt from one of those no minimum/one-off T-shirt printing stores. I realized that I have the perfect logo for me. Yup, you guessed it. A yo-yo.

During the day, or day to day, or week to week…when I feel the Covid-19 doldrums setting in, I now have a theme to represent my mood changes.

I feel like a yo-yo.

Wait. Remember how creative yo-yo artists make the thingy do all sorts of tricks? Ones that make you smile?

All righty, then. Positive spin ( pardon the pun) time. As I do my bit to fight the virus, I have a choice. I could simply settle for and wallow in my mood swings represented by the up and down motion of the toy.

Or…I could choose to find joy in either direction.

I will look in the mirror at me, my new Tee with yo-yo lo-go, and I will smile. Visions of all the tricks I can do with that contraption, dancing in my head.

I do believe there’s a yo-yo move called Walk the Dog! I shall learn them all.

A skilled yo-yo artist. That’s a much better outlook for the present and future. An entertaining image in my books. Because we do need to smile and embrace the energy swings in our days.

I ask you, friends.

What is your logo for your T-shirt during these difficult times?

*I found the above reference in an excellent article by Jan M Flynn

Suzanne V. Tanner writes all sorts of stuff whenever time permits. Her reinvent your life consulting business vies for much of her time. She also provides services in Side Gig advisory and does contract work on customer retention strategies. Vee finds it challenging to keep her: nose out of a book, hands off of the latest recipe she is testing in the kitchen, feet unglued to some bicycle pedals. This abstention rarely succeeds because her partner-in-crime/love-of-her-life guy is playing the same tune side by side. If you’d like to be in email touch: [email protected]