The Lightswitch Method?-?Day 24 Madrid Lockdown?Diary

Life in the Time of Coronavirus

Friday 3 April 2020

A diary showing a glimpse into the future for those lagging behind Spain in the Coronavirus pandemic. Believe — Prepare — Don’t panic.

I missed an important assignment. Pfff. I feel behind on my work and I cannot see how I’m going to catch up with a new wave upon another new wave of tasks falling on my head.

Everyday there is not enough time. JP is a wonder but he has problems going to sleep, for hours. That is evening time we believe we are losing to bad parenting. People say routine will fix it but that is the routine!!!!!

Working into the night is so destructive. The more you put a smile and good energy into things the better things go, but that’s not possible with no sleep. But if I sleep I don’t work.

So when is this going to get easier?

The Spanish government will extend the lockdown again and now we know why they do it two weeks at a time: out of respect for democracy. Not something you hear much about these days. The promise is that the lockdowns will never be the same each time. So current lockdown is the economic “hibernation”, next one will be different. So democratically it is two weeks but reality is to expect much more.

Don’t shoot the messenger, but Stanford has done convincing work on this question of how much more and it looks pretty awful. The ultimate glory of the vaccine is 12–18 months away optimistically. In order to balance health care and economy it might mean switching the lockdowns off and on again.

That’s going to play on our nerves a little, isn’t it?

Humans like certainty. In fact, we will even choose a bad outcome if it means certainty rather than a probability of a good outcome, which is illogical but is how our flawed human minds work. We want quick fixes, even if they are bad, so we can move on.

So we are not going to know if this is the last extension, the last lockdown or the last anything. The thing is change is certain, it always has been and always will be.

I went through rough times and found great solace in the autobiographical writings of the Dalai Lama. He reminded his readers that even the mountains of the Himalayas, that seem so strong, so solid, so stuck, even they are always in movement. One day to the next they change, imperceptibly to the human eye, but they are, and always have been, on the move.

In a time of crisis our human brains don’t want theories, don’t want maybes. We become selfish and mean, and we want orders from authoritative leaders who show unchanging certainty and confidence. We don’t want to be asked to interpret anything, just tell us what to do to survive. That’s what our stressed brains cry out.

The WHO changed their mind on face masks. A bastion of knowing things gone. Who do we turn to now? Same as always, we turn to ourselves. Our brains sometimes work against our best interests. Like when we reach for the chocolate bar to give comfort when we know there is no way in hell we can work off those calories enclosed as we are in a small space.

I’m putting my faith in myself and the people I trust. Currently I really trust the people at Stanford and I trust that everything will change. I’m going to miss more important assignments and never mind it.

There will be flashing lights. Bring it on.