Historically, Some Good May Come of This . . .

Here we are.  In our homes, waiting out the spread of this Corona Virus.  As with anything stressful that comes our way in life, there is a good side and a bad side.  The question is, where will you focus your energy?

Personally, I am choosing to stay informed but not obsessed.  We’ve got talented doctors and research teams to handle this virus.  So, what will you be doing with your time while we wait this thing out?

One of my favourite posts that I read over the last few days was from my friend Teresa from Hides In Hand.  Encouraging artists to use this time to create.  She’s so right when she says, we have the tools, we know how to make something out of nothing and we constantly say there is never enough time to do it all.

It got me thinking about great things that have been created during historical pandemics and look at what I found out:

Shakespeare started writing poetry when the plague closed theatres in 1593.  That’s when he published his poem Venus and Adonis.  In the poem the goddess begs a kiss from a beautiful boy, her belief is that the plague will be banished by his breath.  Who knew that love poetry could cure the plague.  Shakespeare also took this time to dive deeper into his dramatic writing abilities and wrote King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra that year.

When the Great Plague of London was going around in 1665 Cambridge University shut their doors and Isaac Newton was forced to stay home.  During this time he invented calculus, parts of optic theory and while he was sitting in his garden he saw an apple fall from a tree.  This little apple inspired his understanding of gravity and the laws of motion.  By the way, in case you’ve heard a different version of this story, I looked into it and there is no evidence to support that the apple actually fell on Isaac Newton’s head.  Nevertheless it was an “a-ha” moment for him.

With all of the toilet paper jokes flying around the internet I couldn’t help but laugh when I read the story of how toilets came to be after some pretty disgusting trials which I will not share with you in my blog but feel free to look that up yourself and believe me you’ll be more than happy to use a sheet of newspaper if we do run out!  Ha ha!

I will not deny the fact that there are things we worry about.  The artist community has had all spring shows canceled or rescheduled, a major source of income.  People are unable to work, schools are closed.  The list goes on and on.

My wish from you in the coming weeks and months is that you please buy local when you can.  Help keep your favourite little businesses alive. Keep sharing your words of encouragement on social media and via email.  We love you and want to stay in touch!

Also, please protect yourself.  Take the time to invest in your good health.  Get outside and exercise.  Fresh air is always a good thing!  Take your vitamins, eat TONS of vitamin enriched foods.  Salad with fresh veggies every day is a great start.  Pro-biotics are also important to keep that immune system happy!  Educate yourself on the power of fermented foods.  Drink kefir and kombucha.  Eat sauerkraut and kimchi.  Feed your antibody army, they will protect you.

I had a beautiful walk this morning with my friend Joanne.  She is a plant powered woman who is super passionate about Health & Wellness.  In closing, I leave you with a special message from Joanne to get you kick started on taking control of your health.  Click HERE to read that now and PLEASE share her good advice with all of your friends!

Take care and be well,

Monica XO

PS – Not everything is within our control but we can take charge and help people in need.  Ask us about starting your own glamjulz fundraiser today to help a cause that you are passionate about.  Click HERE to join our “Caring & Sharing” group today.

4 Comments

Joanne Wright

This blog is right on point! I heard recently that when faced with a stressful situation, we should ask ourselves … “What’s great about this?” It seems counter-intuitive, but once you really think about it, there are some things to be grateful for as our world is seemingly starting to shut down:

– many of us are lucky enough over the next few weeks to slow down, to stay home, to be safe with our loved ones, to pause and breathe and appreciate the fact we are healthy and alive.
– I’ve seen SO many families outside, enjoying the fresh air together: walking dogs, playing basketball, bike riding, sidewalk chalking etc
– We’ve all stopped to think about how we can help our neighbours/family members/local businesses who may need our support. Our sense of community has been strengthened!
– Our health and wellness is top of mind
– We saw people fighting over toilet paper on the news: for many, this has given us a newfound understanding and compassion for those who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, natural disasters etc. Fear can be a real wake up call.
– All of those beautiful videos on social media of those quarantined in Italy, coming together on balconies to sing their hearts out and play music reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit.
– I get to go for walks with you!!

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Monica Graves

Joanne! This is so beautiful. Thank you! Human beings sure are wonderful! See you in the morning! Xoxo

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Steve

Ah thank you for this. What a great observation and a reminder how inspiration comes from adversity.

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