It’s clear that 2022 is going to be a continuation of the turmoil we have endured for the past 700 or so days. We are still trying to figure out how to deal with a virus that is determined to manifest itself into various strains, and people are reacting the only way they know how to cope with the potential infection — fear and panic. Since the onset of COVID and perhaps even earlier, people have generally decided that being safe was way more important than being a self-determining member of society. It was clear in the early days of the virus that stopping the spread was of paramount importance, and most people were agreeable with the strategy.

Now, hundreds of days later we are faced with the same virus, but there are a whole bunch of different ideas about how to manage our constitutional freedoms with the responsibilities of being a good and safe citizen. Some people have determined that vaccinations are the answer, while others have lived with the virus by managing their health and counting on natural immunity. There is disagreement among individuals about which is best or more effective.

I would love to quit writing about COVID and the many effects on our culture, but the effects just keep on affecting us, and there is no end in sight! It’s like being stranded in the middle of the ocean on a boat with lots of food and water. It’s pretty safe, and you know you are going to be alright, but you wonder if you’ll ever see land again. If the waters get too rough, you can batten down the hatches, but you just really want to get back on dry land and feel safe. To make matters worse, you got some “boatmates” with some very different ideas about how you are going to survive, and you’re not sure that either of them are completely right, and you aren’t sure who you are going to trust for answers.

Experts continue to give us different advice, which is hopefully due to the evolving nature of the virus and the longitudinal understanding that we are now getting from various studies. However, if you stray too far from the government narrative, it is clear that you will be targeted, and, with the help of some of our social media sites — suspended. It is surreal that in 2022 we would be having discussions about free speech and the evolving nature of allowing the government to dictate just how we get our voices heard. It’s likely always been a struggle to swim upstream of the current thinking but too often the censors these days are citing words like “misinformation” to shut down opposing viewpoints.

You know why this is happening? People are scared, afraid, and looking for something to rest their assurance in so they can feel safe in a world that appears to be getting more dangerous, especially from the invisible sources of potential suffering. No matter what we do, or say, or try to determine as best we can — the science is proving that we aren’t in control. We never really have been, but that won’t stop 2022 from being another year of pandemic hysteria getting in the way of us accepting that we are going to have to live with these viruses. How we do that will largely be determined by what we think is necessary to give up for people to tell us that we are now safe. 2022 is going to be about what is really important to you and what you want life to look like for future generations.

I hope we make some good choices!