Equanimity in the Time of COVID

Description

Today’s Wake Up Call fell on the official one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions that were alive were, what can we do to mark this incredibly sad moment? And how can we do that and retain, or locate, our sense of balance, poise, equanimity?

Equanimity is the fourth of the four most treasured qualities of mind. What does equanimity look like right now when there’s still so much sorrow, uncertainty, and fear? Is this one of those (many?) moments when, as the poet, Rilke, suggests, maybe the best we can do is “be patient towards all that is unsolved in our own hearts?”

This Wake Up Call asks, “is that equanimity right now?” It is dedicated to the memory of all the lives lost in the twin pandemics of COVID 19 and racism in the U.S.