This is a call to return to the live performing arts. Please do so after you are vaccinated. More important, pursue the activities that make your life richer and that make you happy. Our collective vigilance has meant that many people guarded their own safety to such an extent that some are having trouble letting go, even after vaccination. I recently overheard a Zoom call between my parents and a group of their friends, who are all in their 70s. One of them said their book group would continue to be remote, for now. A couple said they would not be attending an in-person wedding in June. My heart sank.
Everyone has been through so much. For almost a year, I frequently treated people who were very sick with Covid-19. Now I haven’t seen a serious case in weeks. The miracle of these vaccines, which have exceeded my wildest hopes, means that we can safely return to the things that make our lives whole. Buy a ticket to something, anything.
I was once told that Beethoven, and certainly Bach and Mozart, has been playing every minute of every day somewhere around the globe continuously for over two centuries. That may be urban legend, but as the coronavirus spread across the world, I wondered if, for the first time in our lifetimes, the music did finally cease. We stopped living fully so that we might avoid dying or harming others. That sacrifice made sense. But now, for those of us fortunate enough to have survived, it is time to embrace the aspects of our lives that make us the most human.
Advertisement
Join the conversation as a VIP Member