I have always had an interest in most living things since I was a child even the smallest creature or cell fascinated me, but whilst I was curious, I was also aware of many of them whose potential to destroy almost outweighed what any human being could imagine.
When I began to study at university I became more curious about viruses and fascinated about the potential for studying them especially after being shown an electron microscope, that, even in the seventies had amazing powers of identification and structural elements of viruses. It is also curious how viruses exist,replicate, and cause havoc throughout their life cycles.
When we go about in our world day by day we usually know how to get from A to B, and if not we can use various modern devices to help us, but with viruses we often do not know how they operate, and because we cannot see them with the naked eye we do not know where they are and if we have contacted them accordingly our behaviour in the midst of the pandemic may be of constantly being on guard. When a soldier is on guard he or she may be able to see or at least have some knowledge of where the enemy is, and whilst ,of course, this is not always straightforward, it makes it more possible to have a plan of defence.
In addition to the above many of us have experienced the devastation and loss within our families and friends that this virus has caused., and it is normal for us to be wary and treat this thing with a ‘tongue in cheek respect’ and to behave responsibility in our daily lives, however it is the not knowing, and the ordinary struggles in daily living that stick in our craws and cause continuing stress.
Normalising to work with daily living challenges is so much part of our walk in recovery from the ongoing and aftermath of the pandemic. Recently I felt I could get to know more about COVID 19 and to use this learning to help myself and others to live with it, as hopefully it becomes more endemic and can be managed in the environment.
Watching the pictures of the virus on the television screen was not something I found easy although that curious part of me was tipped to a degree, and I wanted to know as much as possible about the virus.
I am writing from the perspective of one seeking to write some basic known facts, at the present time, and to use these to put the virus in its place ,as it is. I also hope that this will help in ‘walking in recovery’.
Viruses are not cellular living things, but depend, for their lives and replication on finding a host, so they can exist in a parasitic relationship, which, by its very nature is destructive to a greater or lesser degree. COVID19 Sars-cov-2 is made up of genetic material mRNA. The portrayal of it’s shape, form, and method of entry into host cells, on television looked like a berry with a feather in the side of it, which of course was the spike which it uses to gain entry to the hosts cell. It even looked quite pretty——————-.
Things are not, always what they seem, are they? So in the journey through the last years we discovered , if we did not already know that viruses mutate, and change, and may become more and more virulent if the circumstances are right, so the journey ,ongoing, of walking in recovery is taken side by side with, if it were human, someone who is absolutely determined to survive, breed and leave a legacy of even more destructive entities than itself.
Why is it , for me, ‘THE ZONED BEAST’ because it finds its host through host cues. Of course we already know it enters our cells using its spike, or spikes to confuse our immune cells and so gain, it’s destructive entry, Isn’t it ‘normal’ as we have known ‘normal’ to be, in fear of such a thing? Zoning also reminds me of ‘drones’ and their activity which is, of course not always destructive.
If only we could hear it coming and had a demobilising spray ,as for flies. Unfortunately the flies have been created by man himself through spoiling and polluting the environment and they have to some extent released ‘a zoned beast’ although not considered living in it’s own right nevertheless it can zone in and destroy for it’s own ends.
Although we do not know all about how it cues in ,or has cued in the beginning we have the knowledge of it attacking the most vulnerable members of the population. We can be vulnerable in so many ways mentally, physically, and spiritually, so walking in recovery involves maintaining the health of all our parts. we do this by keeping and maintaining ourselves in a meditative and responsible life style, and above all remaining balanced.
COME ON ZONE IN ATTACH TO YOUR QUALITIES AND WALK IN RECOVERY!
aoibheann thoughtful reflections 