Social Pods, Entanglements & Conscious Uncoupling in the Time of Coronavirus and the Great Reckoning

I know I already posted this on my insta stories, but if you have an hour to spare, please watch this conversation between Dr. Yaba Blay, Tarana J. Burke, Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach about issues with White and non-Black people newly following Black people on social media after a program called Pass the Mic.  Black women took over the instagram accounts of well known White women for a day and the unexpected consequence is that they were flooded with new followers, mainly white women. In the specific instance discussed in the video, a white woman reported one of Dr. Blay's posts within 24 hours of starting to follow her. As they mention, this is the new version of Karen, the I-Karen. The part of the discussion about how you will never understand someone else unless you are prepared to engage with their whole humanity (rage, joy, good, evil, sad, etc.) really hit me to my core. I wish it could be required listening. It challenged me while at the same time making me feel seen and understood. I also really valued the conversation about the inherent racism in Instagram's community guidelines that relies on users reporting things. I could go on, but you should really just watch it.

On the personal front, I'm finding it very hard to be openhearted these days, but I know that I need to find that place in order to reduce the depression/anxiety. My anxiety levels are high because I have family & friends in FL, TX & CA and I fear for their health. It then makes me worried about NY reopening and the caution fatigue that I am experiencing and also seeing in others. My brain is overtaxed with every day safety worries and then add all of the stress about the school situation for Javi in the fall, and if it is going to be remote, how to give him some type of social interaction that is safe, within the guidelines, doesn't require us to take public transportation or an Uber (we sold our car a year ago), meets our nanny's comfort level and can also accommodate Liv's schedule.

People responded to my insta question about how they've managed a social pod and it just reinforced for me that it is a big commitment! Sounds like the pods that have been successful have very clear guidelines on acceptable risks, number of total people, agreements on how to handle breaks in protocol (i.e. family visiting) and are made up with either proximity or easy/safe transportation options in mind. Thank you for sharing your pod-styles with me! Most people said you just really had to trust the other families and hope they weren't having "entanglements" with others. I imagine it is only natural that some "conscious uncouplings" may occur as this pandemic continues. 

I was originally going to make a plea on here for a similarly COVID-conservative family interested in podding and lo and behold, that exact family reached out after my insta question! Ya'll, the GuRaes are currently pod-engaged! We will have to work on some details of the pre-nup (i.e. get our nanny comfortable) and we will have to wait for the actual union to occur after quarantine from our beach trip next week.

Oh, the beach trip. I've never been so excited for a trip in my entire life. Dead serious. Our destination wedding in Cartagena was fun and all, but nothing beats a change of scenery after being trapped in an apartment for 6 weeks, followed by another 3 months of social distancing with only park excursions. I'm a little nervous that we are going to overwhelm our friends with so much excitement and affection that we will never be invited back. 

Since I will be busy interacting with people IN PERSON next week (yay!!!!!) I won't be doing a post. I'm sure the following week, I will have stories about the GuRaes engaging with others for the first time in forever and all the awkwardness that ensued.  

Wishing you all a COVID-free 2 weeks filled with sunshine, love and learning!