My Covid Fatigue...and It's Not What You Think

I was talking with my mom last night, and I think she had very true words. We are living in and making history. Just like generations past with their own particular issues (Spanish Flu, Pearl Harbor, Depression - you name it), we are in our own defining moment. I think about how we will be talking to our own children or great-grandchildren about this for a school project or whatever, and I am cringing. We will be asked to be accountable for our actions we are living in right now!

We do not have outstandingly well-to-do states in our country being a beacon of well handling right now. We in New Mexico used to be, but now we are just as shamefully red as any other state. How depressing and how tragic. How did this happen? What changed? What have we not done? Well, the answer is everything. We have not continued with the same fervent passion as we had before. We stopped being afraid of this.

They are calling it "Covid Fatigue." People stopped feeling the necessity to stay distant, wear masks, and take this situation seriously, or at least as seriously as it needed to be. In some cases, like jobs and businesses, we couldn't help it. There was no hold on leases, rent, mortgages, or bills at all like there was talk of in the beginning. What else was there to do but go to work even when it was not recommended? The people in this country received one stimulus check of barely enough to scrape by for two weeks. One check. And this has lasted almost ten months now.

Unacceptable.

That's the government, and they should be wholly ashamed. But they are not the only ones who should be ashamed of their actions. Covid fatigue has hit all of us in every state and in every city and town. We are just tired of not seeing our loved ones, we are tired of not going in person to our places of worship or fun or diversion, and we are tired of all the pressure to be constantly on guard. I get it - it's a pain, and it's tiring. Here's the big "BUT," however, it doesn't freaking matter if you are tired of it or not! This is not going away because we're sick of it. If that were the case, this wouldn't have lasted past March.

So this is where I am going to talk about MY fatigue. Sure, I'm sick and tired of these restrictions as much as everyone else. I want to be able to go out, take my kids to a museum, take my kids to see their grandpa, or go with my husband to see a movie. I want all the things anyone else would want. I'm not a machine. But I also know responsibility, compassion for the vulnerable among us and our healthcare workers, and I know that this isn't over by a LONG shot. Those who give in to their own selfish habits because they just really want to, that resulting anger is MY fatigue.

I'm tired of being so upset with people who are selfish and ignorant. I am tired of seeing people go places and do things recklessly while my kids suffer at home doing the responsible thing. For the longest time, most of my life actually, I have been one to not rock the boat, don't speak up, and don't be confrontational. If you are upset, don't engage and be the bigger person. However, that has stopped for me. My Covid fatigue has spoken, and it is RAGE. Rest assured I speak up now.

Not wearing a mask? I will call you out and demand you stop being such an ass.

Posting ignorant crap about Covid? I'll fight you. I don't care anymore. Let me tell you what I cannot stand hearing the most:

*If we tested less, there would be fewer cases.

*You are all overreacting and should be ashamed.

*This is a hoax.

*You don't know what you're talking about.

That last one really gets me. I work my state's Covid Hotline; I have my ear close to the Health Department for my state. I FREAKING KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Those who are taking this seriously are not overreacting - they are being safe and responsible.

I won't be quiet anymore, and I won't be complacent or only taking care of mine. That doesn't work anymore. This whole situation far deeper than the pandemic itself has become a shadow-monster that is feeding off of the despicable urges in people that have become a lot less scared of the light over the last four years. Have you noticed that? Have you seen that? People's worst instincts, most grotesque urges, have been far more comfortable being shown in public over the last four years. And I do not see a coincidence - I see a cause.

It may be cliche to bring this up, but this quote has never been more prevalent.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”― Edmund Burke

This isn't dated. This may have been said in 1770, but it isn't confined to that time. It was true in the darkest times in history, and it is certainly true now. For the sake of humanity's soul, we have to stop being complacent. That's what has given these horrid acts the ability to flourish. We sat back and didn't fight because we wanted to be passively resistant. Mind your own business, and keep your own nose clean. That doesn't cut it anymore.

So, maybe it isn't so much a "fatigue," but an awakening. I will no longer sit back and let the ignorant, angry, hateful, and irresponsible voices ring out louder. It's not enough to stay better yourself because this situation, all of it, depends on ALL of us being better. The silence I was being kept in, putting the frustration and anger inside of me and keeping quiet and non-confrontational, THAT was the fatigue. It's tiring as Fuck! So now all of this energy has released in an explosive force. The fatigue was from keeping quiet and not fighting. Well, I'm fighting now!

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Color to relax, be a nasty woman and FIGHT!

Notorious RBG for the win always. May her spirit to resist and fight live on in us!

Because kids need the inspiration in this time especially!