Crisis, Calm, and Cooking

Crisis, Calm, and Cooking

As JF Kennedy told us in 1959 the Chinese word for Crisis is made up of two characters – danger and opportunity.

And the corona virus pandemic is a crisis.

Therefore, you may be in danger from the virus, but you may also find great opportunity.

You are in danger if you answer the door when the virus comes knocking.

You have as much control over not getting the virus as the virus has of getting you – if you follow the right procedures then the virus will not get you.

And that needs discipline – discipline to say that you won’t let people visit – my wife’s mother is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and yet, we could not nor would we have, visit her for 8 weeks – in fact last night was the first night my wife was able to go to her house and check on her.

Why? Because if you are going to stop the spread you have to stop yourself.

Prudent sanitization procedures and simply not going out unless it’s to buy food or your job demands it.

And if your job demands it then suit up – gloves/masks and washing your hands, taking your shoes off at the door and changing your clothes when you get back.

The virus can’t get in unless you bring it in – it doesn’t have legs.

The opportunities that lie in this crisis are opportunities that we most people dream about – if only we had more time at home, if only I could get out of the rat race, if only I could spend more time with the family.

Well, here you go. Its your time to shine.

Make a list of all the things that you have always wanted to do and do them – assuming that the list is a home-based list – forget about jumping off Niagara Falls wearing only your socks – this bucket list is for simple pleasures.

Playing with your kids. Deep and meaningfuls with your significant other and if alone with yourself – and I’m not joking there – spend the time assessing YOU.  Who are you really? What do you want? How are you going to get it?

Then CALM.

Every storm has a calm center – you need to find it – and one way of finding it is to tone down the noise that you are hearing.

Media, gossip, and the endless quacking of the pundits, the gurus the analysts and the woe begotten.

The media – from whichever side of the spectrum they come from exists solely on the premise that people will listen to them – and to get you to listen to them they say outrageous things – they tap your buttons and triggers and undo the buttons so your pants fall down and trigger the amygdala – to leap on the emotional hotplate and dance as your feet are getting burned.

Turn them off – what does it matter what is happening if it is not affecting you. You’ll hear any bad news soon enough.

We had 5 cases of coronavirus literally 3-5 minutes’ walk from where I am sitting. Funnily enough these cases didn’t come jumping in our windows or knocking at our door.

They were dealt with as they should be – transferred to hospital, got well, contacts traced and isolated and job done.

You don’t need to hear ever dire prediction that comes leaping out of the mouths of people who are paid to scare you.

The calm belongs inside – you can use this time to decouple from the incessant blaring of hundreds of contending opinions and find your own opinions and find the place inside where you don’t feel anxiety and fear – too new-age for you?

Well, we all have that calm place – and we all shove it in the corner because its much more exciting to listen to nonsense and the bleating of the sheep – so use this time to find the place where you form your own opinions and look at things from the position of perspective.

Perspective demands you consider the facts – and facts are not emanating from the loudest noisemakers.

Media thrives on making predictions- oh my giddy aunt, the world is ending in 4,3,2,1 bang!!

And predictions have no more weight than the hot air that blew them out, and often not from the mouth.

In a storm find the calm and unless you live on Jupiter storms don’t last forever. I can reasonable predict that you don’t live on Jupiter, however if you do, I apologize for giving you inaccurate information.

COOKING

I was fat bastard before this started and now, I am a fatter bastard. Please excuse the French – but it’s the truth.

Cooking – what a great thing to do when you are not doing much – my wife cooks the most amazing vegetables you will eat in your entire life – and I’m a dab hand at the odd meat dish (came from being a chef in a former life and owning 4 restaurants)  – so we discovered a shared passion.

My son discovered he could make pizzas and what more can you want in a lockdown than your very own pizza restaurant.

He did not, however, use anchovies and a pizza without anchovies is, well, a circle of bread with a few bits and pieces on it. There is hope for him yet and may one day discover the heights of culinary excellence that is awarded a chef who uses salty, fishy anchovies on a pizza.

And before you say – oh my galloping galleon what if the stores run out of food – well they won’t.

Because no matter how bad or mad things are food supplies will be available because there is a cause and effect that has existed in every single society since the beginning of civilization – feed me or we will revolt and get a government that will feed me – so trust me, the last thing any government wants to do is to face 100 million hangry revolutionaries baying for blood.

Might not be chocolate eclairs or caviar – although if you grease my palm with enough Snickers Bars, I’ll teach you how to make chocolate eclairs from whatever you have in your cupboard right now, assuming that you have eggs, flour, butter and chocolate and cream to fill them  – but you’ll get fed.

Crisis – avoid the danger with good sense – Grasp the opportunity with both hands.

Calm – turn off the noise and listen to the silence.

Cooking – put the extra notches in your belt now because you are going to need them.