EDITOR

PHOTO BY LIA CROWE

Pushing pause instead of panic

It was Sunday morning, mid March. Boulevard’s press date was fast approaching and as I looked at the beautifully laid-out pages, I realized it was all wrong. The world was a different place two months ago when we started working on this issue.

The lifestyle spread featured tips for a digital detox — a story that was perfect for the time, but made no sense now. Our health story promoted self-care in a busy world: it also lacked conviction once our world went on pause. And a beautiful “headliners” spread detailed upcoming events in Victoria, many of which had already been cancelled. Luckily, Boulevard has an amazing set of freelancers. A Sunday-morning email to health writer Kaisha Scofield and feature writer Jane Zatylny resulted in the last-minute, makemore-sense stories that you’ll now see in this issue.

How quickly our world changes. And it’s certain that by the time Boulevard lands in your mailbox three weeks from now, it will have changed again. Decisions my husband Bruce and I agonized over 10 days ago — do we cancel a New York trip? — aren’t even debatable now. Decisions I’m trying to make today may not even be an option two weeks from now.

At this point, Bruce and I have been in self-imposed isolation for over a week. Bruce has a heart condition; I am immunecompromised. COVID-19 may not be kind to us, so here we are. Luckily, we like each other! Normally this time of year (and most times of year), we are engrossed in hockey. Loss of sports-watching took some adjustment, but we’ve replaced those couch-sitting, beer-sipping hours with daily 10-kilometre walks. Good for body and mind!

And make no mistake — it’s the mind games that can hurt. Quelling panic is paramount. We have two children living in New York City, and watching the nightmare unfold there makes it hard to not push the internal panic button. I also worry about my widowed mother. Aside from her age, which puts her in physical jeopardy, she’s a social butterfly; how will isolation affect her mental health? What if she gets the virus? What if anyone in our family falls ill? Between being compromised ourselves and living in a different country than two of our four kids and a ferry ride away from the other two — we can’t rush in to help. This contradicts every maternal and paternal instinct we have.

Work. I already work from home, so the situation doesn’t impact me in that sense, but like everyone else, I have to wonder what the next few months hold in terms of work. The fact is, a spiralling economy affects everyone. Hence the advice to keep it going as best we can in our own communities: support small food outlets; go online to buy local merchandise; buy gift cards from local restaurants now to use later; buy music; buy art. Book a trip now for a few months down the road. And above all, stay calm and care for your health and that of others.

I saw this on social media: “If it’s out of your control it should be out of your mind.” Stay safe, Vancouver. And let’s push the pause button instead of the panic button.

Susan Lundy Editor