Thoughts amidst global pandemic – COVID 19

Paros Greece, March 2020

It is more than weird to live days like this, apparently unprecedented ones for my 44 years in this planet and truly out of any familiarity. Thinking of multiple contradicting ideas in a row can drive mind off and lead one to madness if not controlled.Putting in paper those thoughts in early morning, after failing to meditate while minds flies around and feelings are bouncing inside me, and keep reminding me that hope dies last as they say, I hope that this will be the case here as well.

I have never been fun of futuristic distraction movies myself, nonetheless I cannot but recall scenes of disaster devastation and destruction and  I am trying to swipe them out of my imagination while in the same moment they are hitting back as real ones on news daily.When forced to abandon daily routines established for a lifetime and trying to persuade yourself on the normality of this new perpetual state far away from all, ones you love as your kids or friends, people you interact with or even strangers in the supermarket, is more than weird and definitely uncomfortable.

Despite the negativity and mostly uncertainty that has flooded us all, strangely I remain optimistic. This could not be based solely on facts and hopes as those are against the desired wish, however I just feel that alike all storms I have been through, this will pass as well. It cannot last forever and at some point things will turn again to fair winds.

The question however, is what will be the damage after this hit and this question has but unknown answers.

While my mind jumps to Giovanni, Lelo, Saul, Mino and Marinella in Italy, long-time friends and fellows and hoping that they will make it intact and safe, it then jumps back to my case and the concept.After assuring myself that my kids and beloved ones remain safe and are not in danger, I stare the sea and try hard to imagine how this will end for me.

Creating the Yin Yang Concept from scratch, working really hard to prepare and support it and taking the risk of a venture, it cannot be but shocking for a start up to put your feet in the water the time a tremendous tsunami comes out of the blue and you cannot truly do anything for it. I have already been working more than hard the last 45 days to prepare the yacht for sea while trying to set up the entire infrastructure to support and make it viable from commercial and administrative end as well.

Trying in the meantime to be close to my kids and being a proper father is a challenge as well when there are 2 different islands to hope on off between and a distant city to add in the equation. As a cherry on top of all, I have already started to make some modifications here at home, rather inevitable as the plan for the summer was supposed to anticipate a normal one and not an Armageddon version of it. Older ones where saying that when humans make plans gods are laughing, and this cannot be but our case here so as all this remains far out from our circle of control but only within our circle of concern which subsequently cannot but make me adjust respectively my sails as a realist while I keep a generous optimism in the rear side of my scalp.

For the time being, I have decided to halt the final part of Yin Yang maintenance and repair until things settle up, at least to a point where some basic certainty prevails and some generic planning for the future might look feasible. This comes after realising that most of the contractors and technicians I was cooperating with cannot attend the yacht and even interference with anyone in vicinity cannot be but a risky thing to do. On the other hand this perpetual travelling I have been through the last weeks between Athens Syros and Paros cannot be a wise thing to do anymore as long as the situation remains alike, hence last Tuesday I decided that I will halt my personal contribution on the project and allow the ones that may be available to continue for themselves their participation in it. I am already 2 days in my beloved island, full of supplies to get by and a spectacular scenery in front of me to enjoy, a library full of books to read or re read, and a pilled list of jobs to do in the house so should not complain at all but better end this essay and take action instead.

My music library is full as well and even though I lack of movies as long as Internet is alive and I can have access, things cannot be that bad I guess. This comes after 41 days without telephone landline and internet access as the telephone company decided that I had to be punished for their technician’s mistake and for no good reason. Gratefully, the managed to reconnect me one day before I came back to the island so no further dramas were averted. So the plan for the time is to concentrate on things I can do and remain there, trying to give myself some rest and relaxation after a continuous exposure for years where I stretched me to my limits and even far more, and regain redundancy to be ready for the days to come.

What I truly wish to see is this ugly thing ending soon, to learn from it the most we can in order to re-connect with ourselves and our nature and to take the necessary actions in personal and social level as to avert it re-occurring in future. This I a great chance to understand our temporary existence in this earth, our very duty to preserve life In all levels and mostly to spread love respect and affection around us indifferent to what we do or practice for living.

It is our duty to protect our surrounding ones, life in every level and to understand that true wealth is not money or ranks but our beloved ones, our input in the common good and our mental heritage to our kids.

Stay safe and remain optimistic, the sun always rises up every morning.