With the recent news of me being laid off due to COVID, I took a few days to myself to digest the information. It's easy to freak out after losing a job, but there is comfort in knowing I'm not the only one. There are millions of others that lost their jobs, way before I did, and still have the frustration of remaining jobless. When I turned 40, I really thought my life was on an upward trajectory (in a way). My life path is going to be what it will be and this is what I try to remember as I begin my search for a new job. While I have officially been laid off, I'm still personally let go of my old job and moving forward and onward. It's the only thing I can do because there is no use crying about it. It won't change anything.
I am hopeful of the situation improving related to COVID in the U.S. We've had some increases in cases due to the negligent and careless reopening of certain states. I'd like to advise everyone living in the U.S. and the world that we still have way too many cases of COVID. Since re-opening and people are walking around without masks, the 7-day average of new infections as of Friday (yesterday) was 54,666 (Source: Johns Hopkins University). While around 2.5 million people in the U.S. are receiving shots every day, some states have failed to reduce the number of daily cases. Keep in mind also only 14.7% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated and 27% with one dose. The range to reach herd immunity was between 60-70% but due to the new variants it is more likely between 75-90% (Source: NPR). The bottom line is get your freaking vaccine. If you are anti-vax people, know that all of the past presidents including Trump got the vaccine. He just did his privately with the former First Lady. I'd like the deaths in the U.S. to reach not much more than we already have at 548,800 and globally 2.7 million people.
It's important to me not to lose sight of my personal issues as well as what is happening on the world stage. Nothing is going to get back to normal regarding COVID (jobs, health, etc) if the majority of us are working against each other. I'm afraid many of us are doing that because we've been ingrained to execute without any kind of rational thought. The U.S. has always had a gun violence problem since I've existed and violent acts against minorities has plagued the U.S. as well. I hope that more people can see there needs to be sensible gun reform laws and that outlawing all guns is not the solution. I hope when someone sees an Asian person being assaulted, that they step up and help that person. A prime example is a challenge going around on social media in the San Francisco Bay area called "Slap an Asian." The level of complete stupidity speaks for itself.
While I do my best to focus on my own life, I write this to remind myself and others that even in the midst of turmoil, frustration, change (an upheaval of sorts), it isn't the end of your life. It's hard in these situations to be positive and calm, but that's what is needed. Don't get me wrong, I half watched TV and movies these past few days with the mindset of going full steam ahead of applying to jobs. I've already applied to some jobs and I have many days ahead of me of job applications. I have faith something is out there for me. I'd rather get a job right now but there's a great possibility it won't happen much later. Because of this, I surround myself with things that make me happy and know if I'm doing my best that is all I can do. If a door closes, another one opens still is cliché but is true.
pisaries.blog 